AuB is co-led by Alex Hitchcock and Tom Barford, a pair of the UK’s finest young contemporary tenor horns.

Following their eponymous debut on Edition in 2020, the band release this new recording, Folk Devils, on Whirlwind. On the leaders’ elegantly-scribed compositions, saxes interweave, shifting between angular and softly melodious stabbing lines, through to zigzagging post-bop and folky melodies; and its testament to Hitchcock’s pronouncement that, "everything is written with the aim of being sing-able". Throughout, Jasper Høiby’s animated, shapely bass sonic makes its presence felt and French drummer Marc Michel has a tenderly supportive, dynamic percussive role that allows the sax men to do the talking. Additional synth contributions from New York-based keyboardist Morgan Guerin and Maria Chiara Argirò are always tastefully understated.

For instance, on ‘Cavort’ a delicately jabbing boxer-like rhythmic theme played by horns and kept alive by Hoiby’s bouncy bass sustains the mood while a minimal, occasionally cascading synth touches in and out before joining the horns in a snaking Zappa-like coda. ‘Shinagawa’ is a deliciously purring twin-sax theme featuring Guerin’s watery synth, a liquid post-bop sax solo by Barford and a finale in a folk-dance style, the latter being also a characteristic of the album’s title track. This demon-folk sax pairing’s strong writing and sax arrangements leave enough room for some improv flexibility, and it’s well-executed by a group of musicians that sound entirely devoted to the cause.