Red Jasper

Red Jasper

Red Jasper is a progressive rock group from the United Kingdom, formed in the mid-1980s. The band begins in Bradenstoke in Wiltshire, where Davey Dodds and Robin Harrison meet in the village pub and start writing and playing together. Their early material has a more folk-influenced sound, and the group develops from a small local project into a live band with a wider following.

Formation and early line-up

Dodds and Harrison are joined by Tony Heath, creating the first version of the band to play live. Mark Ollard then comes in on drums to complete the first full line-up. This line-up records England’s Green and Pleasant Land? in 1987, an album sold at gigs that helps the band gain attention. The record does not include a track of the same title.

Red Jasper builds its reputation through extensive live work across the United Kingdom, often playing up to 18 dates a month. Saxophonist Pat D’Arcy, formerly of Ophiuchus, later joins and adds another layer to the group’s sound. During this period the band begins work on the 12-inch EP Pull That Thumb (off the top of your head), which includes the songs “Pull That Thumb” and “Flagpole”.

Line-up changes and recording work

Before the EP is completed, drummer David Clifford joins after the band meets him at a festival in Wiltshire, where he is also performing with Nobody’s Heroes. Ollard leaves, and Clifford becomes the new drummer. This line-up of Dodds, Harrison, Heath, D’Arcy and Clifford becomes the most recognisable early version of Red Jasper. Clifford also takes the front-cover photograph for the EP, which is well received both critically and commercially.

Dodds and Clifford handle much of the business side of the band, including meetings with distributors and record labels in London. Dodds secures a deal with HTD Records, an independent label based in London. In 1990, Red Jasper spends four weeks in a studio just off the M25 recording Sting in the Tale, engineered by Craig Thomson, who also works on Def Leppard’s Pyromania. The album also features guest violin from Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention.

The pace of touring and recording leads to tension, and Pat D’Arcy and Tony Heath leave to pursue other work. Red Jasper then continues as a core trio before expanding again.

Later classic line-up and concept albums

Sound engineer Jon Thornton joins on bass and songwriting, and the band later records its first live album. An initial recording session at the Bristol Bierkeller fails because of a technical problem, so the performance is repeated at the Fleece and Firkin in Bristol. The live album is titled Action Replay, its name taken from this sequence of events. Keyboard player Lloyd George, who has known the band for years through his own group Just and has also worked with Hawkwind, appears on both live recordings and then joins full-time. This gives the line-up Dodds, Harrison, Clifford, Thornton and George, often regarded as the definitive Red Jasper configuration.

Action Replay is the first Red Jasper release to be widely available outside the United Kingdom, and it brings the band to the attention of the Dutch label S.I. Music. The group signs with the label and records the concept album A Midsummer Night’s Dream, largely written by Dodds and Harrison. It gains the band new listeners in Europe, leading to live dates in the Netherlands and support slots with Pallas and Shadowland. The follow-up, The Winter’s Tale, continues this concept-album approach and is also supported with Dutch live work.

Later releases and return

S.I. Music later becomes Cymberline, which issues the last of the band’s three Dutch releases. In 1997, Red Jasper releases Anagramary, which has a more mainstream progressive rock feel. By this point Dodds is less involved, and Clifford sings lead vocals for the first time. The album is never played live or toured, and the band then stops for 13 years.

Red Jasper returns in 2010 as a four-piece recording unit comprising Harrison, Clifford, Thornton and George. Clifford takes over lead vocal duties, having worked as a vocalist during the break. The band also signs a deal with Angel Air Records to reissue its previous five albums in remastered form.