Having previously played piano on Thomas Strønen’s ECM album Time Is A Blind Guide (2015), Downes improvises on Suffolk and London church organs on his full label debut. This lets a leading English player combine label-friendly ambience with local cultural resonance. Though this isn’t sacred music, there is a meditative quality suiting its solo playing in mostly rustic settings, as the instruments’ vast resources are tapped. The traditional ‘Black Is The Colour’ has an elegiac sweetness of tone, giving way to foreboding, a stray scream of air, and a last, ghostly whistle – whale-song being suggested even before the submerged vibrations of ‘Last Leviathan’ break surface. Tom Challenger’s guest tenor on ‘Modern Gods’ allows darting interplay, and a mutual crescendo which the organ’s dormant grandeur is for once let loose to meet. ‘The Gift’ is a lovely, reflective folk-hymn farewell.

Jazzwise spoke to Kit Downes about the album

Did this organ music grow out of theWedding Musicorgan pieces you and Tom Challenger were playing in 2014?

Myself and Tom have been playing together for around six years now and playing with him has been a huge influence on me. The pieces on this record were all either improvised or developed through solo improvisation, but I am sure many of the same choices and textures remain. I enjoy the connection that the organ has with the improvising tradition, and also the challenge and potential of improvising in new ways on this very colourful instrument.

Which particular qualities of church organs did you want to explore?

They all have their own characters, especially the older, often smaller ones. For example, the smallest organ on the record was the one in Bromsewell church. It is a converted harmonium – so underneath all its extensions, in its heart it’s still a quiet instrument, so it really responds to being played that way. The more you play them the more you find out how they resonate, then you try to improvise using those colours – finding their hidden characters.

Did you have any previous examples of organ music in mind?

I have listened to organ music a lot in the past, but for this recording I didn’t want to be overly influenced by that tradition. So instead I listened to lots of John Taylor. There was something about the spirit of his music which really felt right for this project. I love listening to him anyway.

Could you tell me about your early days as a church organist?

Between 8 and 12 I sung in the choir at Norwich Cathedral. I would hear the organists improvising with psalm chants and hymn themes and was fascinated. I took lessons at the Cathedral and then started playing for a few local churches – however soon after I discovered Oscar Peterson and veered away from the organ until the last six or seven years really.

This record’s a really tight fit with ECM – from the meditative moments to the ambient sound. What does it mean to you to debut as a leader there?

I have dreamed of recording for ECM since I was first given [Keith Jarrett’s] The Köln Concert, so I feel extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity. Much of the music from ECM has been a huge inspiration on me since I started playing. I was given a lot of freedom by the producer, Sun Chung, to structure the project how I wanted. I am very grateful to Alex Bonney for recording it all so brilliantly.

WhyObsidian?It makes me think of Kubrick’s obelisk…

I am interested in volcanicity, and how events in that world happen sporadically, but violently. I think of music, and indeed the organ in this way sometimes.