The Aviary
Future Fable, 2023
8/10
A driving force in the UK gypsy jazz scene, the violinist and composer Tobie Medland pens an avant-garde listen that brings Tom Smith, Sam Leak, Kit Massey, Helen Sanders-Hewitt, Bim Williams, Shirley Smart, Sol Grimshaw and Marcus Penrose to the unpredictable and modern formula.
“The Aviary Part 1” begins the listen with warm keys from Leak, before stirring strings enter the pensive and eloquent climate, and “Murmuration” follows with a fuller presence that benefits from Grimshaw’s animated guitar and Penrose’s lively double bass for the rock focused delivery.
Halfway through, “Del Sasser” showcases Smart’s cello acrobatics with much melody and playfulness, while “Django” is quite intimate and poetic before building into a rhythmic and dance floor ready album highlight.
The last piece, “The Aviary Parts 2 & 3”, leads bare but is quite busy soon after, and is populated by Smith’s clarinet and strings that can be frisky, just as they can quiver with emotion.
Though they were a quartet in the past, these days the band consists of some of the UK’s brightest players, and its makes for a complicated, stylish and atypical version of jazz.
Travels well with: Paulo Almeida- Oferenda; Tigeroak- Living And Living