Reflections (RSD 24)

To mark Record Store Day in 2024 Universal Music Recordings and Decca Records are making Jazz guitarist Amancio D’Silva’s album ‘Reflections (The Romantic Guitar Of Amancio D’Silva)’ available again for the first time since it was released in 1971, on limited edition clear vinyl.

Long sought after by collectors and connoisseurs, original copies now sell for upwards of £350. This new edition was mastered at Abbey Road using high definition 24bit/192kHz audio files, copied directly from the original analogue master tapes. Images of those tapes are included in the package alongside new sleeve notes written by noted author, compiler and documentary maker Tony Higgins, who also acts as Executive Producer for Decca’s ‘British Jazz Explosion’ series.

Recorded in May 1970, ‘Reflections’ was released as part of the Lansdowne Series, overseen by the influential Denis Preston, one of the UK’s first independent record producers, and engineered by Adrian Kerridge. The twelve instrumental pieces include titles by George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Hoagy Carmichael, alongside originals by the three talented arrangers who worked on this album, David Mack, Stan Tracey, and Leon Young.

Born in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1936, Amancio D’Silva’s career as a musician began playing gigs in hotels, restaurants, and on the soundtrack of Bollywood films. In early 1967 Amancio, his Irish-born wife Joyce, and their young family relocated to England, the cost of their travel part funded by Amancio selling his Gibson acoustic guitar. He found work playing gigs at The Prospect Of Whitby pub in Wapping, east London, but would subsidise his income by cleaning the toilets in the morning before performing for Jazz fans in the evening. An introduction to Denis Preston led to him collaborating with some of the most noteable figures of the late ’60s / early ’70s British Jazz scene, including Joe Harriott, Michael Garrick, Don Rendell, Ian Carr, Dave Green, and Bryan Spring.

‘Reflections’ is a chance to enjoy Amancio’s sensitive touch and pure tone, aided in part by a guitar he put together himself – he would later work for Selmer guitars (bought by the owners of the aforementioned Gibson in the early ’70s) for whom he designed pick-ups and amplifiers.