Michael Arbenz Meets Andy Sheppard: 'From Bach to Ellington - Live'

Another late discovery for me brings together Swiss pianist Michael Arbenz and British saxophonist Andy Sheppard with a live album celebrating two geniuses without whom music would definitely be the lesser. ‘From Bach to Ellington - Live’ allows both musicians to perform as individuals and as a duo: the trouble with live albums like this is that I always regret not having been at the recording at the Bird’s Eye Jazz Club in Basel in August 2024.

Sheppard has long been a stalwart of the British jazz scene and this exploration of Bach and Ellington with the esteemed Arbenz is almost the perfect (double) musical marriage.

Opening the album with Ellington’s Melancholia is a bold choice, setting the tone for piano and sax weaving together and separating for their own improvisations around one of the most evocative of Duke’s compositions.

Upping the tempo and tearing apart the Baroque Bach for the next track, Arbenz’s Psalm is inspired by  Bach’s Cantata BWV 146. Returning to Ellington with African Flower, Arbenz brings the melody and introduces Sheppard’s sax with this seldom-played track, before more Bach inspiration comes from the Prelude in C. The resulting Where It Springs Into Being seems familiar with Sheppard’s sax very much 21st century above Arbenz’s opening piano before the track itself springs into more exploration of the Bach original.

The final two Ellington tracks - Reflections in D and Warm Valley - seem to owe much to Bach and prove that Duke was so much more than the classic American songbook tunes he is more widely known for.

Reading the bios of these two musicians is, itself, extraordinary: Sheppard is one of the few soloists to perform in the big bands of all three of the greatest post-war composers, Carla Bley, Gil Evans, and George Russell.  Arbenz’s career has seen him tour extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and South America, performing and recording with trio VEIN and alongside a host of highly respected musicians in international contemporary Jazz including Greg Osby, Ron Carter, Glenn Ferris, Dave Liebman, Marc Johnson, and Wolfgang Puschnig.

The duo format is a new and exciting one for Arbenz and Sheppard, who first connected through their long-standing trio VEIN and this double marriage with Bach and Ellington is built to last. It’s a shame that it’s taken a couple of months for the CD to reach the top of my To Listen To pile. And look at that artwork - what a stunning album cover!