he new project Andy Sheppard East Coast, led by the saxophonist, sees Sheppard inviting three of the most innovative instrumentalists at work today on the UK’s and Portuguese jazz scene: John Parricelli on guitars, Dudley Philips on double bass and Mário Costa on drums.

The music explores new grounds for Sheppard’s melodic inventiveness, anchored in inspirational coastal landscapes and sounds, it is perfectly fitting that its UK premiere was at First Light Festival, celebrating one cycle of midsummer sun setting and rising over the beach in England’s most easterly town.

Innovative but lyrical, sometimes ethereal but always ready to groove, grounded in tradition but free from boundaries, where the contrasts between all the different elements converge in an ongoing moment in time. A group of four distinctive musicians seeking to connect through the synergy of diverse musical languages infused with a greater sense of openness in the making.

Andy Sheppard – tenor & soprano saxophones
John Parricelli – guitars
Dudley Philips – bass guitar & double bass
Mário Costa – drums