AARON IRWIN TRIO

SPARK

Adhyãropa Records

Aaron Irwin, saxophone/bass clarinet/composer; Mike Baggetta, guitar; Bill Campbell, drums.

Aaron Irwin is a Brooklyn-based, multi-woodwind instrumentalist and composer.  He has written all the songs for this album that features his talents on saxophone and bass clarinet.

This album is folk-rooted, with Irwin drawing from traditional folk forms, the blues, and sparked by improvisation.  Irwin’s music is very lyrical and melodic, left to the expression of Mike Baggetta’s guitar or Irwin’s woodwinds.  The trio’s chemistry is central to the unveiling of these Aaron Irwin compositions.  Baggetta and Campbell have worked with Irwin for many years.  You can hear their camaraderie and appreciate their ease of interaction.

The trio opens with the title tune, that sounds more like country hoedown-music than jazz. This sets the tone for the “Spark” album. It’s followed by “Mississippi Hurt” that is quite folksy and European classical at the same time.  The guitar plays counterpart with Irwin’s melodic approach, while Bill Campbell succinctly taps out the time on his trap drums.

Track #3 is a waltz that features the beautiful tone of Irwin’s bass clarinet with Mike Baggetta’s guitar singing the chordal support, stretching single-notes beneath Irwin’s melody with a twang of folksiness. “Skuli” quickly becomes one of my favorites on their album.

This is followed by a very energized guitar attack on a tune called “Fahey” that, at the beginning, is more rock than folk or jazz.  It calls the meeting to order, smacking the guitar strings like a gavel on wood. Once the tune settles down and Aaron Irwin enters on saxophone, the arrangement rolls along like a wagon train, wheels of the band turning across the sands of time and eras.  This plays like a film soundtrack behind a western movie.

Here is an album of Americana instrumental music with original compositions by Aaron Irwin that cross the threshold of modern folk music, country/western tradition and jazz.  Clearly, the jazz part is prominent on a composition Irwin calls “Goodnight Laverne.”  His soprano saxophone tells its story in a sweet and blues fueled way.  The song becomes another favorite of mine, as his melodic woodwind storytelling unfolds. On Track #6, Campbell is briefly featured on trap drums. I wanted to hear more.

There are shuffles, ballads, and blues tunes mixed into this eclectic stew of simmering music. But the theme of Americana Folk music is like an umbrella that stretches across these tunes, shading them from the ordinary and protecting the folk music culture that pioneered early American music.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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