MATTHEW OTTIGNON Goethe-Institut, August 9 Reviewed by JOHN SHAND ★★★★ Flying is miraculous not because of altitude, speed, precision or aerodynamics, but because of earth and gravity. So in creating music to celebrate birds and flight, Matthew Ottignon ensured airiness and velocity are only part of the equation: he also often grounds the music in grooves and weightier textures, so the impression of flight is not observed, but is experienced and exhilarating. Launching his new album Volant (Earshift Music), the composer and saxophonist reassembled the quartet that made it for the first time since its recording a year ago.
They’d be dangerous if they could do it more often. Pianist Lauren Tsamouras, bassist Hannah James and drummer Holly Connor are fully alive to Ottignon’s desired balancing of lightness and mass, so the drums might crunch while the piano floats, for instance, or the saxophone might soar high above an earthy rhythm. There are hints of giants such as John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders in Ottignon’s lines.
Credit: Barnabas Imre The opening Moon Rock had Ottignon’s alto glancing off the Goethe-Institut’s bright but sympathetic acoustics, while the band lit flares around it. Naturis was more contemplative, beckoning a brooding solo from James, while Connor stretched time by playing behind the beat, whereas on The Third Bardo , she perforated the storming tenor’s density. Murmuring seemed the project’s very essence, with the tenor wheeling and .