THE extraordinary electro-acoustic album LEDLEY, by three Tottenham Hotspur fans and friends, saxophonist Chris Williams, trombonist Raph Clarkson and electronics wizard Riaan Vosloo, shows how sport, friendship, community activism and jazz improvisation can be united in powerful and perceptive musical sounds.

Ledley King is a Spurs’ fans’ icon, a one-club defender and international, plagued by injury through much of his career. The musicians are local and loyal Spurs supporters since childhood, who see the club as a focus for community cohesion and strength. I asked Williams about his life in music and football.

“I was born in Edmonton, north of Tottenham, in 1983. My mum’s Tottenham-born English and my dad settled in Tottenham when he came from Jamaica as a young boy.

“He built up his own cleaning company and mum did clerical work. Dad played bass in bands, but I never saw him play. I was surrounded by musical sisters, but it wasn’t until I heard a kid playing sax at school that I found something I really wanted to play.

“I started at 11. We were eligible for free lessons so I got 15 minutes a week. I bottled it the first two weeks then the third week the tutor brought with him a tape of Charlie Parker playing My Little Suede Shoes. It was like a switch had gone off in my head. I never knew music like this existed. Its life and freedom blew my mind.

“I sang the tune the whole way home so I wouldn’t forget it, then got out my sax and butchered it! That was the real start of it, how music felt and what it meant to me had been permanently shifted.”

“My sax tutor Nick Stevenson gave me so much, pushing me to get into the borough-wide jazz band and making me cassettes of albums to check out, exposing me to so much. My mum and sisters also inspired me, I’d be nowhere near the person I am now without them.

“My first playing gig was with a Nigerian singer who wrote his own tunes. I’d lay down sax tracks for him and we’d do gigs at a Nigerian restaurant in Tottenham — my first experience of Afrobeat. A pastor spotted me and got me to play in his church. Looking back, playing by ear, learning tunes on the fly in random keys was great training, and it felt grand to be earning money through music.”

I first heard Chris in 2011, playing with Bolton-born clarinettist Arun Ghosh. I remember surging versions of Ghosh’s tunes Intifada, dedicated to the Palestinian struggle, and Longsight Lagoon, written about the working-class neighbourhood of Manchester, dear to Arun’s heart.

“He’s an extremely soulful musician, with a way of connecting and resonating with people, caring deeply how moods and feelings are expressed through music. Going on this journey with him, finding a way to retain my voice within it, while fully being a part of it, certainly contributed to how I approach collaboration.

“I got into teaching after getting my degree at Middlesex University, and still teach to this day. It meant a lot to work in my old school for a while. Teaching in schools for 17 years near where I grew up has meant so much to me, teaching young people who lack the opportunities compared to those in other areas.”

What about the new album, LEDLEY?

“It comes from the friendship between Raph and I. Football and music brought us together and laid the foundation for this band. We used to go to the matches at White Hart Lane with Raph’s dad, and these bonds stretch out and connect with the wider community. Every home match day you see these connections, these moments of togetherness, a sort of pilgrimage, a sense of belonging.

“Ledley King epitomises so many positive traits: resilience, determination, loyalty — a one-club player who continues to give to the community. He was stalwart and captain while Raph and I were teenagers and young adults. For both of us he embodies so much about what is good about following your childhood club. The record represents passions and friendships we share: it could only be called LEDLEY.

“Raph has a real gift of being a wonderfully empathetic musician while also playing with an absolute, full commitment: all heart! He means what he plays, a stellar musician and a joy to play with. Riaan’s post-production electronics feel as if they were in the room with us — astounding!”

And how does the sound truly reflect North London and its people?

“There’s a constant hum in London, something buzzing, tapping, whirring — connections being made, brief moments existing in the haze. The range  of influences Raph and I have as improvisers was shaped by these sounds growing up in Tottenham with all the cultural mixes, different sounds, accents, languages. I don’t bat an eyelid hearing multiple languages on a bus, wherever I’m going. This melting pot shapes our lives as people, musicians and football supporters, taking in rock, jazz, improv, SE Asian, Afro-Cuban, South African, embracing electronics as part of this sound-world, and finding a means to interweave them all.

“But there’s also a hardness here, life being tough. I still feel an element of hardness in my playing. Life can still be a bit of a scrap. I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunities to make the music that we do. So many others miss out on these chances, or didn’t get the support at vital moments. But you’ve got to care about what you do, be behind it, otherwise what’s the point? I take pride in being committed when improvising on records like this, and I know Raph does too, and taking pride in what we do is something we should all claim.

“So following Spurs and going to home matches lets me feel connected to my local community, my childhood, both sides of my family. It’s the same for Raph and it feeds into how we play music together, our personal connections to Tottenham and what these relationships mean in shaping our music.”

What’s your favourite track on the album?

“It has to be ‘One Club,’ the record’s culmination, as if it all points to this. It felt special in the recording studio at the time. The moment where Raph and I come together with our lines is one of my key moments of the record.”

Has Ledley heard it yet?

“Not too sure, but he’s said he’d like to meet us. Hopefully, he’s intrigued enough to give it a listen, see where it takes him!”

And what impact will this community-loving music have on those racist elements who seek to divide, in football and community?

“After reflection, us being out there doing what we do, not shying away, is a statement in itself — not to be silenced by a minority that feels greater than it is, seeping into any silence that is left.”

No silence in LEDLEY though. It peals out for the vibrant, many-cultured and generous community that walks the streets and cheers on the terraces of Tottenham and every urban centre of Britain, and finds its true expression in the soundscape of this audacious record.