Dando Shaft – Shadows Across the Moon
Talking Elephant – 12 March 2021
Live recording of the last hurrah for Dando Shaft, this is technically a reissue but unless you were in Italy in the early 1990s, this release will be entirely new. It features much of the band’s best material electrified in a live setting, enhanced by a guest appearance from a young Chris Leslie from Fairport Convention.
Formed in Coventry in 1968, Dando Shaft was an acoustic band that mixed psychedelic folk and folk-jazz and was a big influence on the 70s progressive folk scene. The original lineup consisted of two guitar/vocalists Kevin Dempsey and Dave Cooper, multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins, bassist Roger Bullen, and tabla/percussionist Ted Kay.
They recorded three acclaimed studio albums (the latter two featuring singer Polly Bolton) but the band never achieved broader success and – without a record contract – Dando Shaft amicably split in 1973. Most of the band briefly convened in 1977 to record a fourth studio album, before again heading their separate ways.
So Kevin and Martin teamed up with fiddle legend Dave Swarbrick and rising-star fiddler Chris Leslie to form Whippersnapper. But the shadow of Dando Shaft was never far away and the original all-male lineup was asked to perform a one-off show in Italy in 1989 (where Whippersnapper had built a growing following).
The concert was recorded at the rather magnificent Sala Piatti, a beautiful art nouveau concert hall in Bergamo. The stars aligned and (aided by a few weeks’ rehearsals) the band are on mighty form. The twin guitars and vocals of Dempsey and Cooper drive the songs (all original compositions from the band). Meanwhile, Jenkins adds colour with intricate mandocello lines and dreamy flute, while Kay keeps the pace with percussion and ethereal tabla. It’s a rich and heady sound, a pinch of Pentangle a shade of Amazing Blondel, but more vibrant and lively, matching their studio albums.
The opening track, Railway, reveals that Chris Leslie is much more than a guest performer here, his fiddle featuring prominently. Leslie also shines alongside the band on the epic closer, Coming Back To Stay, which can stand alongside his best work with Fairport.
The second song, Rain, is about as close as Dando Shaft had to a ‘hit’, it’s the track you are most likely to hear on a folk radio show or compilation. Martin Jenkin’s mandocello soars above the twin guitars and the sheer exuberance is evidence of how much fun the band are having, sharing the stage again to an appreciative audience.
The next song, the breezy If I Could Let Go, features the lyric ‘sweet and easy company’. It’s a phrase that’s a pretty accurate description of the band and their performance here. You get the feeling that the pressure is off to be ‘successful’ and they are simply a group of good friends and fabulous musicians enjoying an unexpected swan song (11 in fact).
This release is dedicated to Ted Kay, Martin Jenkins and Roger Bullen, all of whom have sadly passed away over the last 15-years. Unearthed from the archives and seldom heard because of its limited initial release in 1993, Shadows Across the Moon is a fitting final celebration for an influential and much-missed band, who deserve to take centre stage for a final bow. Molto bene.