VOLANT
Led by saxophonist and composer Matthew Ottignon, Volant comprises four exceptional musicians who produce a singular explorative sound. Matthew Ottignon's compositions are an ode to his admiration for nature and are deeply influenced by musical geniuses including John Coltrane and the Necks. Bassist Hannah James grounds the ensemble with unparalleled confidence and musicality, 2022 Freedman Jazz Finalist Holly Conner brings an appetite for innovation and creative ambition, and pianist Lauren Tsamouras adds sensitivity, subtle nuances and an openness towards experimentation. Together, they’ve created an exciting new project, inspired by the flight patterns of birds, that’s making waves in the Sydney jazz scene.
Bandcamp
July 26, 2024
via Earshift Music
Album launch, reviewed by JOHN SHAND
★★★★
This sax virtuoso will make you believe you can fly!
Goethe-Institut, August 9
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.
image: Barnabas Imre
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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.
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 swooping over the updraught of the evolving intensity of the others’ eighth-note ostinato. Rocky Lux was simultaneously driving and weightless, culminating in an exultant four-way dialogue, while for the incendiary Bilpin, Ottignon swapped to baritone, making a vast, majestic sound, and Tsamouras again played dancing lines that did much to lend all the music its buoyancy.
The tenor came to the boil over the free-jazz blaze of Rolling and Circling, and to the Volant material they added Jet-Setters, which was like funk with tripwires attached, featuring a jolting feature from Connor.
Through it all came hints of the spirit of such monumental figures as John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but Ottignon’s artistry is too far advanced for you baldly to hear the sounds or lines of the forebears who helped shape him.
Featuring
Lauren Tsamouras | Piano
Sydney-based jazz pianist and improviser. Throughout her musical career, her style has been influenced by trad Jazz of the 1920’s, iconic jazz players of the 50’s such as Bill Evans and Chet Baker as well as contemporary Australian pianist/composer Luke Howard. An amalgamation of these has allowed her playing style to be partly compositionally driven and well as improvisational, evident in her original music featured in her work ‘Another Green World’. Music written to challenge the standard roles of instrumentation; navigating pulsatile, ostinato-based compositions where the improvisation is informed by the architecture of the piece.
Hannah James | Acoustic Bass
Hannah is a bass player and composer from Sydney Australia. She leads the 10 piece ensemble @Pharos.au, the Hannah James Trio (HJT) and quintet project #Hatch. She is the bassist for the New Orleans infused Crawfish Po' Boys, Mingus Amongst Us, the Divergence Jazz Orchestra, Mothership Jazz Orchestra and others. She has worked with Ingrid and Christine Jensen (USA), Lakecia Benjamin (USA), Helen Sung (USA), Silke Eberhardt (Ger), Sandy Evans (Syd), Matt Keegan, Katie Noonan (Bris), Don Burrows and Kevin Hunt amongst others. Hannah has been a recipient of the prestigious Jann Rutherford Scholarship, the ANU Excellence Scholarship. She has toured Australia, Asia and the UK with various ensembles. Hannah is a sessional lecturer in Jazz and Improvisation at the University of Sydney.
Holly Connor | Drums
Holly Conner is a Sydney-based drummer, percussionist and electronic music producer - extremely versatile, she works across the pop, indie-rock, electronic, experimental, contemporary improvised, and free jazz music scenes. She also produces her own percussion-meets-electronic music under the moniker ilex.
Coming from a diverse musical background, she first studied rock drumming and classical percussion, before completing a BA in Jazz Drum kit from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Holly has also completed summer courses at the School of Improvised Music Brooklyn, and two Australian Art Orchestra Creative Music Intensives.
In 2022, Holly became one of three finalists for the Freedman Fellowship. The Fellowship Finals recognise those at the forefront of contemporary jazz and improvised music in Australia. Following Holly's ilex performance for the Fellowship Eric Myers of Loudmouth magazine wrote -
"Dynamic, powerful...an impressive display of virtuosic drumming
