Brian Molley Quartet: Intercontinental

Scottish saxophonist Brian Molley is no stranger to Indian music, having toured India several times since 2015. Rather than merely presenting his music, Molley has sought to expand it, collaborating with the Rajasthani singer & sarangi player Asin Langa and, at the Madras Jazz Festival in 2017, with percussionist Krishna Kishor. Since then, the Brian Molley Quartet (BMQ) has returned to India twice, collaborating with Kishor each time. Intercontinental, recorded remotely between Glasgow and Chennai in 2021, is the fruit of the BMQ and Kishor's collaborations to date.

The rhythms of the world have filtered into Molley's previous three albums in an organic way, and Intercontinental is no exception. That said, although Kishor's array of percussive instruments infuses almost every track, this is not Indo-jazz per se. With the exception of the overtly John Coltrane-inspired "Vasudeva's Invitation"— based on a Tamil Nadu folk melody—Molley's is very much a contemporary jazz which places him in the forward-thinking company of modern British greats Tommy Smith, Tim Garland and Iain Ballamy.

Molley's full-bodied tenor sound, however, resides in the tantalizing middle ground between Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz, with a wellspring of melodious ideas and a measured delivery which does not waste a single note. Whether in mid-tempo flow on "The Crocodile and the Plover Bird," or in caressing, introspective mode on "Ae Fond Kiss"—a delicate saxophone and piano reading of poet Robert Burns's much-loved song—Molley is a compelling storyteller.

But there is also a distinctive quartet sound thanks to the continuity of personnel. Pianist Tom Gibbs and drummer Stuart Brown have been on board since the quartet's inception in 2012. And though Brodie Jarvie, of Fine Men With Foul Tongues fame, is a recent addition, replacing Mario Caribe for Modern Traditions (BGMM, 2021), his agile yet sensitive playing informs the feel as much as the sound of the music, notably so on the elegantly brooding "Thursdays with GK."

To what extent does this remote collaboration work? The Kishor & Molley duet "Lotus and Thistle," with the percussionist employing a number of instruments, is the best example of Scottish melody and Indian rhythms combining to emotive effect. And when the quartet is powering at full throttle, as on the exhilarating "Ramal Dabke," Kishor's rattling percussion adds undoubted spice. But, on the whole, Kishor's Indian and African percussion lends a coloristic element to the music that, if truth be told, feels non-essential. Likewise, his konnakol on the otherwise driving "Ayemenem," with Molley interweaving soprano and flute, feels like a background effect rather than an integral dynamic. It is hard not to conclude that the remote nature of the recording reduced the potential flame which close-quarters interaction and spontaneity would likely have engendered.

There is, however, much to admire on an album of consistently fine originals which signals the potential for even greater musical affinity between Kishor and the BMQ in a restrictions-free future.

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