Saxophonist Nat Birchall is best known for working with musicians such as pianist Adam Fairhall and creating deeply felt acoustic jazz that proclaims a reverence for the aesthetic of late-period John Coltrane. However, here, responding to the isolation of lockdown, he's crafted a solo album on which he plays every instrument – most notably the synth – and which offers a tribute to the great Sun Ra: pieces like ‘Space-Time Vortex’ featuring Birchall's rudimentary drumming and stabbing organ construct convincing Arkestral facsimiles. Elsewhere, on tracks like ‘Cosmic Visitant,’ he plugs into the roots reggae vibe he's tackled on recordings with producer Al Breadwinner, while ‘Celestial Spheres,’ with sinuous reeds, basic ride cymbal ting-a-ling and loping bass guitar groove has some of the hypnotic ecstasy of Alice Coltrane's most explicitly devotional work. Whatever the setting, Birchall's sax ruminations remain deeply sincere and probing.

Jazzwise speaks to Nat Birchall

How did you end up playing every part on this album?

At the start of the lockdown I had to think of a way to generate income. My initial idea was to record a solo saxophone album but after a few days of experimenting with songs and approaches I thought I should try using other instruments as well. Then the idea of using a synth began to form in. I hunted around for something that might conjure up some Sun Ra-type sounds and found the Korg Minilogue a good bet. I worked at the music every day for 10 days until I had an album. The music pretty much happened by itself, almost like I couldn't stop!

The keyboards are a new departure for you, right?

I've played keyboards on the reggae tracks we've done but that's very minimal. And I use the piano for composing songs but that's it, I have no chops so to speak. The main idea was to try to find some synth sounds that were reminiscent of Sun Ra and use that as the starting point and inspiration for the direction of the music. I'm really not a fan of most synth music, in fact I can't think of any examples apart from Sun Ra that I really like, but his use of the instrument and the sounds he got are just magnificent.

Is this the first time you've played drums on a recording

It's the first time I've played drums at all, really. I bought the kit for our daughter and I've only ever tried playing reggae on it occasionally. I was continually surprised by how it sounded and, even though it's far from the greatest you'll ever hear, I'm very happy with it. I don't really have any explanation of how I managed it really, but the whole album happened that way, everything just kind of fell into place somehow or other.

What are the pros and cons of working on your own like this?

For me the best music will always be played in real time by musicians who are on the same wavelength and constantly interacting with each other to create something that adds up to more than the sum of the parts. But there are advantages to playing everything yourself, as I discovered in doing this album. I realised that one reason why I was happy with my playing on the unfamiliar instruments was because everything fitted with my musical concepts. I played rhythms that I like, I used sounds that I like, so the music was an accurate representation of my musical world, or a part of it at least.

Do you think there'll be more solo albums on the way?

There'll definitely be more solo music. I've already recorded a few new tracks but I have to try to make the next one a little different. I'm not sure in what way that will manifest itself but I'm looking forward to the journey.