Video of the Day: Joshua Jaswon Octet share Silent Sea Album Preview

London-born saxophonist and composer Joshua Jaswon has undergone something of a transformation over the past three years. Following the disastrous results of Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum vote Jaswon took the decision to leave London for Berlin and set about establishing himself in Europe’s creative hub. This journey of musical discovery has led to collaborations with artists from Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, the formation of the Joshua Jaswon Octet and the recording of Silent Sea.

“The nucleus of the project first took shape when I read a collection of twenty contemporary poems collated by Carol Ann Duffy, which were published in the Guardian in 2015 as part of their 'Keep it in the Ground' campaign,” explains Jaswon. “The project was an opportunity to engage with themes that have significant meaning for me and move beyond an exercise in abstract music making.” Each composition on the album is based on the text of a contemporary British poem by writers Jackie Kay, Maura Dooley and Rachael Boast and deals with the issues surrounding climate change and Brexit. “It is moving, fresh and thought-provoking and the music perfectly mirrors the poem’s anxiety and satirical humour,” says Kay, Scotland’s Makar (poet laureate), commenting on Jaswon’s interpretation of her poem ‘Extinction’. “The jazz music fits the poem like a hand to a glove, and the rhythms and tempos capture the heightened sense of time running out, of seizing the moment.”

Alongside Joshua on alto and soprano saxophones, the band features many leading musicians from the Berlin, Amsterdam and London scenes including Anna Serierse (vocals), Marc Doffey (tenor/soprano sax), Miguel Gorodi (trumpet/Flugelhorn), Jan Landowski (trombone), Johannes Mann (guitar), Sidney Werner (double bass) and Aarón Castrillo (drums).

Silent Sea will be released on Ubuntu Music on the 30 October 2020 – see the album preview video below and for more info visit www.joshuajaswon.com