Out of the various experiments in mixing up Indian and Jazz stylings, some more deliberate than others, came the album Dream Sequence by Cosmic Eye, released in 1972 not on Columbia but on the Regal Zonophone label, again by EMI (cat. No.SLR 21030) ( Regal Zonophone: a label that was in fact a joining of two older labels, and that produced a remarkably small catalogue in its few years of operation…but featuring amongst others, albums by Jack Bruce, Procol Harum and T-Rex) .
This record with no separate track titles, featuring music “conceived” by Amancio and performed with musicians such as the superb and multi talented Alan Branscombe on flute, Kashev Sathe (of Magic Carpet Band fame) on tabla, and John Mayer (by now synonymous with the term Indo-Jazz for his own collaborations with Joe Harriot) on Violin, brought forth many aspects of Amancio’s musical vision, and his influences. It was certainly not what would be considered a jazz album at that time, perhaps more Avant Garde. This record, and for that matter all Amancio’s records are very sought after collectibles on LP, for those who can find them…and afford them.
Around the same time as, or a little after, the release of Dream Sequence, Amancio played the Wigmore Hall in London on a gig conceived as a cultural fusion concert, featuring sitarist Clem Alford and Amancio dueling their Indo-jazz chops, Amancio playing a solid body Gibson L5 …“performing astonishing feats of technique and inventiveness” according to Guitar magazine.
Amancio & Joe, early 70’s
A while after Integration and Hum Dono but before, and in great contrast to, Cosmic Eye, came Reflections…the romantic guitar of Amancio D’Silva (1971, Columbia, EMI SCX 6465): A slightly different sort of outing this one, featuring Amancio’s guitar playing on arrangements of classics from Gershwin, Ellington & Carmichael amongst others, with orchestral arrangements by Leon Young, David Mack and Stan Tracey. An idea (not Amancio’s) perhaps inspired by the Wes Montgomery albums with orchestral backing, and similarly not for the thumping jazz combo enthusiast. Stan Reed said in the London Evening News (Oct’ 23 1971): “The romantic guitar of Amancio D’Silva makes extremely pleasant listening.” It’s probably fair to say this was Denis Preston’s idea, and also fair to say that the results are curiously likeable. “Reflections” does feature some of Amancio’s most sensitive touches as a soloist, and a superbly pure tone. He was playing a guitar he had put together himself simply to save money, that featured a single hand-made single-coil pick-up in the neck position (Amancio later on did some work with musical equipment manufacturer Selmer (as well as for Gibson), and had several designs for pick-ups – he was a single coil fan – and also designed some quite unique amplifiers). Denis and others insisted he used this instrument, very pleased with its tone. Incidentally, a composition from this album, “What Maria Sees” - written for daughter Maria, was recorded again in ’72, but this time in a very different setting, on the album mentioned below.
The last of Amancio’s albums produced by Denis Preston (in ’72), featured extensive collaboration from Alan Branscombe amongst others, and featuring Amancio on acoustic guitar (a recording first) as well as electric (incidentally Amancio played acoustically almost exclusively during the early to mid eighties). But a deal was never cut and the album never made it to release...reasons for this being unclear to this date. It’s worth pointing out here, that Denis Preston worked as independent producer, not employed by EMI or any other record company. He recorded albums and then searched for a deal.
Anyway, it is a beautiful record, featuring Amancio at his most unique in terms of guitar stylings, and perhaps in some respects his most satisfactory mix of Indian and western settings on record (or not quite on record). There’s fantastic drumming here from someone as yet unnamed that sounds like it was laid down in the 90’s with its sometimes hip-hop feel…no kidding, some ripping sitar passes, tabla pulsing through the third track and a fantastic ambient feel often achieved with a very sparse line up. But most of all, the album captures the fantastic rapport between Amancio and Alan Branscombe, these two playing off each other superbly throughout. Alan’s Rhodes playing is knock out. The recordings have been preserved by the D’Silva family, and a track from the album, called A Street in Bombay, has been selected by Gilles Peterson for inclusion on the next of his British Jazz compilations, Impressed 2 (released June 18th 2004)
It seems a name was never elected for the unreleased album (or at least nothing has been found), though the tracks were named: A Street In Bombay, What Maria Sees, Song For Francesca (another daughter dedication) and Konkan Dance. That’s right, just four pieces, but each is around 10 to 12 minutes long, leaving plenty room for the players to really stretch out, which they certainly do. To the enthusiast, this album may just be the essential Indo-Jazz item, though it’s not fair to label it as just that. In fact, Amancio never used the term, himself.
Let’s hope that given the recent interest in Gilles Peterson’s compilations (this in turn bringing renewed interest in Amancio’s work), a release of this album may at last be possible in the not so distant future (watch this space).
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Other Collaborations around the same time that also yielded album releases, included work with the Ghanaian drummer/percussionist Guy Warren. Two albums feature Amancio extensively: Afro Jazz, which features Rendell, Carr, Tomkins, Garrick and others as well and, mixes up very full-on African rhythmical themes with a fairly straight-jazz group sound and not a little humour thrown in…there are insane chuckles between and during some tracks from Warren (“the mixture comes off wonderfully, especially with D’Silva.”…Melody Maker ) and the harder hitting The African Sounds Of Guy Warren (see discography page), containing the aptly titled “Africa Speaks, India Answers”, perhaps of particular appeal to those interested in crossovers & fusions.
Another interesting collaboration, and a classic East meets West outing in its time, is the track Mirror Image from the album by the same name, by Sitar player Clem Alford (available on CD…see discography). This was recorded in ’74, and features Amancio uncharacteristically with a fairly overdriven sound and using a wah-wah pedal, but very originally, effecting ambiences and answering phrases from Clem’s electric sitar. The track is near 15 minutes long and features other superb players: again Alan Branscombe (here on electric piano), Tony Campo on Bass (who also played on the Cosmic Eye album) & Dave Heath on flute amongst others. It’s well worth checking out.
Asides from recording extensively, and gigging the above mentioned line-ups too, to support his family of five Amancio also wound individually customized guitar pick-ups for well known rock musicians. And, between his “own” gigs and sessions, he continued to work late nights playing at dinner clubs in town; typically putting the kids to bed with his wife Joyce, and then heading up the road in the dark with his guitar to catch the tube into town.
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Jazz Scene of the Time
For more precise details of the above albums and other recordings, please see discography page.
BIOGRAPHY - Later recordings
