Saxophonist brings Brazilian sunshine to the Fringe
Saxophonist Brian Molley’s quartet brings the rhythms of Brazil to the Fringe with a series of appearances at the Jazz Bar in Chambers Street from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th August at 7pm.
Reimagining the music of Brazil’s favourite songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Glasgow-based Molley promises to fill the Jazz Bar with sunshine through his group’s own interpretations of Jobim classics including The Girl from Ipanema, Corcovado and Desafinado.
“Tom Jobim, as he’s also known, was an incredibly prolific and brilliantly consistent composer,” says Molley, whose group has played internationally with festival dates from Rochester in New York to Auckland in New Zealand via the Jarasum Jazz Festival in Seoul, South Korea and the RIFF festival in Rajasthan.
“His melodies are uniformly inspiring and while The Girl from Ipanema and How Insensitive are popular with UK audiences through hit versions recorded by Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra, there’s an incredible depth to his catalogue and we love to explore as much of it as a Fringe show’s duration allows.”
Already an experienced musician in jazz, classical and pop circles, Molley formed his quartet in 2012 and released its enthusiastically received first album, Clock, the following year. Subsequent albums have included collaborations with the Indian percussionist Krishna Kishor and with the Rajasthani traditional musicians, the Asin Langa Ensemble.
“I chose the guys in the quartet - pianist Tom Gibbs, double bassist Brodie Laird-Jarvie and drummer Stuart Brown – because they’re among the UK’s top jazz players,” says Molley. “But they are also incredibly versatile and open to playing different styles of music. We always have a great time when we play these Brazilian rhythms, ranging from sizzling samba to mellow bossa nova, and audiences seem to enjoy the music, too.”