With the release of their self-titled debut album on Edition Records, AuB have built an exciting, uncompromising sound on the foundations of innovation and collaboration. We caught up with Alex Hitchcock and Tom Barford to hear how they've been coping during the lockdown, their commitment to equality and the stories behind the music.

The COVID Crisis has changed our lives. The cancellation of gigs and live events is hitting our musicians hard. How is this affecting you, and what are you missing the most?

AH: I miss playing for an audience with other musicians, the buzz of anticipation before a live gig, the sense of 'togetherness' when it's going well – I'm also missing the social aspect that comes with that, hanging with musicians after rehearsals, eating together before a gig. Most people I know have had all their live performance work cancelled but it's heartening to see people being creative through live streams and other similar platforms. In theory it's a great time to practise, plan, and write new music but of course everyone, unfortunately, isn't in the same boat in terms of space, time, money, motivation, headspace. Covid has clearly amplified existing inequalities and it's worrying that there really isn't a level playing field in terms of creatives' ability to work.

What impact do you think this will have on your practice and jazz music in particular as a collaborative format? 

AH: People will always find ways to collaborate, and the lockdown won't last forever. Funding organisations have been good at adapting their criteria and redirecting funds towards people who really need it, but inevitably people will be overlooked, and venues need protecting too – it's going to be interesting to see how culture production changes as a result of the pandemic, in terms of who it's made by and for, and how it's presented and transmitted. Lots of white musicians, myself included, will return to work wanting to adapt and improve their careers to be better allies to the Black Lives Matter movement – it's obviously damaging and embarrassing it's taken this long to happen but if it is sustained and disciplined then it's a step in the right direction.

The band name comes from the points on a Venn diagram that unites the space between A and B. This is a clear, graphical representation of collaboration. How does this ethos inform your approach as a band? 

AH: In a Venn diagram you can have multiple discrete elements whose identities are preserved even when combined – I think that reflects the four strong musical personalities in the band. A lot of the early parts of the writing are collaborative – Tom and I record ourselves improvising duets and then we'll separately elaborate on the bits we like. No matter who writes each tune, that element of collaboration is always there.

A quartet with two tenor saxophones has a strong tradition. What are the key challenges of this format?

AH: An obvious thing for me to say, but I think the album could have been quite saxophone-heavy, so we were careful to vary the structures and instrumentation so that there were lots of different melodies and textures coming from all the instruments, also effecting the sax sound sometimes with echo and harmonisers. The saxophone is such a distinctive sound that having it be 50% of a band almost encouraged a little bit of restraint. And this lineup is hard to write for sometimes! We wanted a 'full' band sound and James and Ferg do a lot of the heavy lifting in this respect through their virtuosity. We didn't really do any tenor trading or 'battling' in the vein of the Lockjaw/Griffin bands, which might be something to think about for the next record…

Not Jazz

The contradictory nature of this title is fitting. Is challenging the preconceptions some people have about jazz music part of the band's mission? 

AH: There are various pressures surrounding genre that I was conscious of when writing this, which led to the kind of tongue-in-cheek title. What does it mean or take to 'broaden your appeal' outside of the 'jazz audience', and what does the music (and the intent behind it) gain or lose when you try to do that? Reaching new audiences is great and important but I hope, listening to the album, it's obviously in the jazz tradition and that's something I think you shouldn't hide from, especially as white musicians, when you're playing music that grew out of incredible struggle and sacrifice. Separately, there are convincing arguments made by Nicholas Payton and others since 2010 for referring to jazz by the more accurate and descriptive phrase 'Black American Music', but as I understand them they're not borne specifically out of a desire for commercial appeal. In any case, it's clearly not for me to say what jazz 'is' or 'isn't'.

Why did you choose to open the album with this song?

AH: Feeling that the groove would immediately draw the listener in.

Calvados

This track propels itself along with real energy, it feels like a journey where the destination is very different from the starting point. Can you tell me a little more about the story behind this piece and how improvisation fits into your process?  

AH: I wrote this tune in about three stages, so was piecing together the fragments to try and find a narrative through the music, so I'm glad you hear a development from start to finish. Improvisation ties it together – I don't really write much through-composed music (because I can't) and in terms of my own listener's ear I often want to hear soloists responding to the shifting musical ground underneath and around them, so you know you're just hearing one of an infinite number of potential versions of one piece. The last section of this tune came together late in the evening of one of the recording sessions after we'd been passing some amazing bootleg Calvados of indeterminate strength around over dinner – I think the outro captures some of its headiness.

Doggerland

Doggerland and Groundhog Tuesday are my favourite tracks on the album. Do you ever imagine how and where people might be listening to your music? 

AH: Good question – I'm looking at streaming stats in order to answer this and the top five cities are currently Berlin, Taipei, Paris, Istanbul and Bogotá. it's exciting and humbling to be able to reach people around the world with our music, especially at a time when some people have said they're particularly turning to the arts as a form of solace. In theory, the internet has democratised the process of releasing music to a point where anyone can achieve this reach but in practice, there's a whole infrastructure of labels, media, producers and streaming platforms that in many cases determines what gets heard where – it's worth thinking about who the gatekeepers are. So we're lucky to have a platform through Edition where Dave Stapleton has been really supportive, but we're conscious that there's lots of amazing music made elsewhere that doesn't get heard.

When learning to play the sax, how did you approach building your vocabulary?

TB: The majority of building my vocabulary at a young age came from transcription. I was lucky enough to have an amazing jazz saxophone teacher where I grew up who taught me the importance of transcribing your favourite players. I listened to and transcribed a lot of John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon and Michael Brecker as a teenager which really informed my sound, phrasing and vocabulary.

AH: I learned a lot of Charlie Parker solos early on. I started on alto so the sound I hear on tenor is more treble-focused, which is why I've been finding transcribing higher register piano solos useful. I'm still building the vocabulary, although in a more focused way to when I started.

Rufio

Towards the end of this track, you drench the sound in reverb to create a beautiful, enveloping atmosphere. Is innovation a pivotal ingredient of the band? And do you see yourselves pushing into a more abstract territory in the future? 

TB: Much of the music I listen to has an innovative quality to the music which makes it incredibly exciting to listen to. Although I don't class anything I write as innovative, I think of that quality as something to strive for in my writing. I think AuB could fit into many different musical situations which is definitely an exciting place to be. We've had 4 years of gigging a with a slightly more acoustic, bold sound so it would be good to maybe capture this feeling in a live album at some point in the future. In terms of abstract writing, I'm a huge fan of free jazz and I think that kind of sound creeps into to my writing anyway from time to time. 

How did you hook up with Edition Records?

TB: I was lucky enough to have won the 2017 Kenny Wheeler Prize which enabled me to release my first record with Edition. I wanted to maintain my relationship with Edition because I'd learnt a lot from Dave Stapleton, the PR was amazing and a lot of my current musical influences are releasing albums on Edition so it felt like a natural way forward for me to mention AuB to Dave. 

Where was the album recorded and how important are your surroundings when writing and making music?

TB: The album was recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in Wales. My surroundings are incredibly important when writing music. Not just the location when composing but whatever's happening in my life at the time seems to seep into the music one way or another. It's also very inspiring on gigs if you're playing in a nice space to a decent sized audience so I'd say the quality of the gig does depend a lot on the atmosphere of the location. 

How did the recording sessions work and how long did it take?

TB: We spent three days recording at Giant Wafer with the incredible engineer/mixing artist Alex Kilpatrick. We spent a lot of the first day setting up the studio and making sure it was perfectly placed. We then proceeded to record the music whilst being wary of not playing the same pieces too many times to maintain a level of spontaneity. James Maddren took on an unofficial producer role from the drums making invaluable suggestions about composition/ways of playing the music. Giant Wafer are incredibly generous with studio time so we were able to record into the early hours of the morning on one occasion. This helped with the gig like atmosphere.

Groundhog Tuesday

Can you tell me a bit more about the story and process behind this track?

TB: This track was a fun one to write. I wanted to compose something which represented the mildly frustrating feeling that most musicians get when having to find other means of working to aid with finance. This could include performing at function events, teaching or even a 9-5 job. Most of these things happen on a Tuesday for me and it always seems to come around much faster than expected hence the film reference of Groundhog Day.

Are you avid listeners to other artists music? How much of what you listen to seeps into your music? 

TB: Yes, I couldn't live without listening to music. I'm currently listening to a lot of Vince Mendoza, Chris Potter and John Scofield. Many things I listen to seep into my compositions. I think of it in the same way as developing a broad playing vocabulary. I want my compositions to be informed by the music I love and have listened to which in turn should hopefully create a fresh sound due to the specific combination of all the different musical influences. 

What do we need to be listening to at the moment? 

TB: I've recently been checking out ‘54’ which is an album of John Scofield compositions with Vince Mendoza arrangements with the Metropole Orchestra. In terms of new releases, James Copus will be releasing his debut album ‘Dusk’ next month. He is probably my favourite trumpet player in the UK at the moment and the album features the outrageous American drummer Jason Brown so watch out for that one!

AH: Joel Ross' set 'Being a Young Black Man' from the Jazz Gallery in 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slh9ALIlxHw&feature=youtu.be), Tyshawn Sorey's new album 'Unfiltered' featuring some incredible young musicians on the New York scene, and Tineke Postma's latest album 'Freya', also on Edition.

‘Aub’ by Aub is Out Now on Edition Records