Aaron Irwin Trio: Spark
Brooklyn-based saxophonist, composer and multi-woodwind instrumentalist Aaron Irwin has a distinctive voice that makes connections between jazz, blues and folk-rooted music. Featuring long-time collaborators Mike Baggetta and Bill Campbell, Spark presents a lively collection of 10 Irwin-penned tracks. All of them unfold gently, often with Baggetta setting the scene with quiet guitar chords before Irwin and Campbell layer and amplify the central melody of the songs and build them to a finale.
The music manages to be both inward looking and yet expansive at the same time. The combination of Americana influence and bass clarinet sometimes reminded me of Brad Mehldau’s Highway Rider album, with the low register of the instrument picking out slightly mournful themes to the accompaniment of Baggetta’s echoing guitar. Skuli demonstrates the layered sound and that sense of melancholy very well, driven by a three-four time signature and some wistful guitar lines. The long-established connection between the trio is evident in the way the material is developed and shared across the three of them. This enables the music to move in subtle and satisfying ways from gentle introductions to full-throated performance almost imperceptibly. This is shown beautifully on the dramatic track Fahey, where once again Baggetta shows his mastery of the guitar in setting the mood for how the song develops.
Intimate, and subtle, this album often sounds like three good friends playing for their own enjoyment and the sheer pleasure of doing so. In that sense, the album feels it has offered the listener a brief window into something fleeting and rather magical.
Discography
Spark; Mississippi Hurt; Skuli; Fahey; Goodnight Laverne; A Song In The Front Yard (after Brooks); Giuffre; A Blues Feeling; The Snow Man (After Stevens); Goodnight Shirley (49.41)
Irwin (as, bcl); Mike Baggetta (g); Bill Campbell (d). Gainesville, Florida, 18 August 2025.
Adhyaropa Records AR00167
Brian Molley Quartet: Tùs/Origin
I recently enjoyed a performance of Finn Anderson’s musical Ballad Lines, and this lovely album from the Brian Molley Quartet was another reminder for me of how music can cross boundaries and shape other cultures in ways that are not immediately apparent. At the heart of the music is the story of Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became a prominent abolitionist and made many visits to Scotland in the 1850s. The music tells the story of an 18th-century journey from Scotland’s Outer Hebrides across the Atlantic to the eastern states of the USA before taking the listener to Louisiana. This is thoughtful and wonderfully composed and performed music, drawing on a range of styles and heritage including baroque, hymns, Afro-Caribbean dance, gospel and folk.
Molley’s Glasgow-based quartet was formed in 2012 and has enjoyed critical acclaim for embracing music from diverse cultures, including the fusion of jazz with Indian folk music for one collaborative project. It is this respect for other cultures and the tasteful weaving together of different influences that makes the quartet so effective in telling the story on Origin. On one level, the album can be enjoyed for its swinging, melodic jazz that sounds contemporary and very polished. The playing is superb, with the quartet moving effortlessly across different styles and tempos to segue into various aspects of the story.
Heritage projects can sometimes sound a bit awkward in the marrying of past and present, but Origin wears its backstory seriously yet lightly and works well as an engaging jazz project that has been crafted with skill and care in terms of what it wants to say. In addition to fine playing, the album has been superbly recorded and mixed, giving the listener a warm, often haunting listening experience that fuses past and present through the power of music.
Discography
Ode To Frederick Douglass, Parts One And Two; Ritornello Ceilidh; Cianalas (Longing For Home); Ode To Frederick Douglass Reprise; Dance Of The Waves; The Man And The Lion; The Trail Of Tears March; Frederick’s Lament; Storm. Whirlwind And Earthquake (36.50)
Molley (ts); Tom Gibbs (p); David Bowden (b); Stephen Henderson (d). Solas Studios, Glasgow, May 2024.
BGMM Records BGMM006
Taupe: Waxing/Waning
Listening to this album I asked myself two questions: what is the music trying to tell me and who might want to listen to it? The reason for asking is that right from the off, this album contains some of the most challenging, impenetrable music I have listened to in a long time. Seeking more information about Taupe, I learned from the band’s Spotify profile that their “concoction of free (math) avant (skronk) shifts between sour sonics, effervescent improvisations and sludgy doom-laden riffs”. They have fans including BBC 6 Music’s Freak Zone and BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction.
Surprise and discovery are certainly elements in the music, but a whole album of this is just such a hard listen. With stop start squeals of sax, menacing layers of electronics and jerky, jarring rhythms, the album could easily be a soundtrack for a dystopian film. Sometimes, music should challenge both performers and listeners, push boundaries and find new directions. The history of jazz – and indeed classical music – is based on the importance of change and coming at things from different angles, often angering and confounding listeners along the way. But sometimes, the desire to experiment can take over completely, and it seems that this album has gone down that path. Anarchic, bizarre, brave, but unfortunately just not for me.
Discography
Lemonade Tycoon; Anti-Bird-Spike-Bird-Nest; Interlude (Stride); Allcapsallbold; Pet Boss; Waxing/Waning; Turn Push Kick (43.18)
Mike Parr-Burman (g, elec); Jamie Stockbridge (as, bar); Alex Palmer (d, pc). Dystopia Studios, Glasgow, 2025.
Minority Records MIN75
