People often talk about jazz musicians bringing accessibility to the genre, as though it sits under lock and key, shuttered to the average listener who likes their time signatures predictable. If that old adage must be recycled, it inexplicably applies to The Aaron Spiers Jazz Orchestra. Human Music rejects artifice and automation, then breezes straight into the soul with sublimity so weightless you feel yourself defying gravity.
If You Never Come to Me (Inútil Paisagem) feels almost opaque in its material form; a spectre you can’t quite persuade to remain in focus as it rhythmically drifts past, steeped in the decadence of classical jazz styling while retaining a living emotional centre. Spiers reimagined Jobim’s ballad with a fresh vision and understanding of the temperance tied to longing. The orchestra lowers its centre of gravity, allowing the brass to enter on velvet soles while each chord leaves the expensive perfume of saudade hanging in the air.
The lyrical narrative tantalises context into the sumptuous composition, reflecting the tenderness of passion and its semi-lucid drift through the intersections of desire. Sarah Maud perfectly complements the arrangement with a voice equally made for this score and the silver screen. Her phrasing treats silence as part of the melody, holding each syllable until longing acquires its own temperature.
Before this debut, Spiers spent a decade carrying basslines across arena stages with KISS and Aerosmith. Serious illness halted his performing career, opening space for composition and translating stadium scale into orchestral opulence.
If You Never Come to Me (Inútil Paisagem) is now available to stream on all major platforms. Find your preferred way to listen via the artist’s official website.
Review by Amelia Vandergast