Laura J Marras: Isotope

Laura J Marras first drew Neil Duggan's attention in his review of Alessandro Di Liberto's Punti Di Vista (GleAm Records, 2025), where her alto saxophone is repeatedly highlighted—thanks to her fresh blend of sensitivity and energy. Other press notes on that release, quite rightly, attributed to her traces of John Coltrane and Oliver Nelson, as well as Wayne Shorter, which is hardly surprising: Marras leads a quartet called Shorter's Vision, a group with which she recreates emblematic works by the master. A year after that first recording as a sidewoman, Marras makes the anticipated leap to her debut as a leader with Serenity: Laura J Marras plays Joe Henderson (Wow Records, 2026), a respectful homage to another iconic tenor saxophonist in which she combines, with admirable technique, her alto with an arresting soprano saxophone.

Marras's voice has been toughened up by the Maestrale, the powerful, dry wind that lashes the western coast of her native province on the Italian island of Sardinia. Like that wind, she carries strength and character, key elements for continuing to grow and shape her personal musical language. All of this comes fully to the surface in "Isotope," a sunlit piece that comforts us from its opening moment as if it were a long-awaited morning glow. Everything in it shines: the inner urge of its brief intro, the insightful statement of the theme with a exhilarating duo of female voices in the foreground, Alessandro Di Liberto's subtle harmonic exploration—evoking James Williams—the fluid, dynamic interplay of the quintet. Two players deserve special mention, their melodic ideas complementing each other perfectly: Marras carves out a solo that builds from the lower register, with purposeful attack and a splendid, finely grained timbre, endowed with woody textures that emulate the sonority of the tenor sax that inspires her; while Francesca Corrias dazzles, in the upper register, with an imaginative and expertly crafted scat, in which welcome echoes of Jazzmeia Horn sparkle through. Luminous, stimulating, and utterly compelling.