Label: Adhyâropa Records, 2026

Personnel - Aaron Irwin: saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Mike Baggetta: guitar; Bill Campbell: drums.

The long-standing trio led by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Aaron Irwin returns with a blues-and-folk-tinged outing, offering a sonic tribute to the traditions of American roots music. Spark is their third release.

Irwin’s bass-less trio, rounded out by guitarist Mike Baggetta and drummer Bill Campbell, begins its journey with the title track, a piece whose melodic contour briefly recalls the church hymn “Gift of Finest Wheat”. Driven forward by Campbell, this Americana-flavored opener features a nuanced pedal point and an octave-doubled melody. “Mississippi Hurt” highlights Baggetta’s soothing fingerpicking style, while Irwin’s clarinet climbs its harmonic slopes with agility and Campbell colors the kit with darker, wetter tonal textures. The piece grows increasingly animated toward the end, shaped by dynamic phrasing and focused guitar strums.

The trio demonstrates a clear affinity for waltz forms. “Skuli” unfolds with elegance, its melody carried by bass clarinet and punctuated by emotionally charged guitar cries. “Giuffre” leans into a seductive blues character, while “The Snow Man”, also marked by bass clarinet etchings, briefly shifts into 4/4 in its middle section before returning to 3/4 for its close.

Though generally understated, the album reaches a more pressurized intensity on “Fahey”, which develops like a Celtic-tinged ritual through vigorous, bright-harmonic guitar strumming that gradually settles into a carefully patterned pulse. “Goodnight Laverne” and “Goodnight Shirley” take the shape of jazz-standard-style ballads, with Baggetta’s six-string work shining expressively on both.

Both “A Song in the Front Yard” and “A Blues Feeling” lean into blues language. The former, playful and lively, thrives on a bass clarinet line that grooves with easy charm, while the latter alternates between energetic ten-beat cycles and softer 4/4 passages.

Irwin’s compositions, often sensitive in nature, don’t produce much excitement. Yet, the honest and cohesive interpretations of the trio radiate some warmth and intimacy.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Mississipi Hurt ► 04 - Fahey ► 05 - Goodnight Laverne

Label: Adhyaropa Records, 2024

Personnel - Aaron Irwin: alto saxophone; Mike Baggetta: guitar; Jeff Hirshfield: drums.

Brooklyn-based saxophonist and composer Aaron Irwin explores similarities between music and poetry as forms of expression in his ninth album, (after), featuring long-time bandmates Mike Bagetta and Jeff Hirshfield on guitar and drums, respectively.

The opening track, “Recuerdo”, draws inspiration from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem of the same name, featuring pointillistic harmonization, precise and direct saxophone terminology, and subdued percussion. “Frederick Douglass” incorporates electronics, firm guitar pedal points, and a brushed rhythmic flux, evoking a country music vibe that feels even stronger on “The Cemetery”, reminiscent of a Western movie soundtrack. “Daniel Boone” embraces Americana in a combination of slide guitar, dry hi-hat pulsation, and iterative bass clarinet melody. Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem is narrated by Emily Wong.

While “When I Heard at the Close of the Day” offers a folk dance atmosphere with bass clarinet at the front, while “Five Bells” veers from jazzy to noise rock, driven by Baggetta’s saturated sounds. His distorted infusions return in the audacious “The President Visits the Storm”, complemented with swinging cymbal drive and clarinet circularity. Another standout, “Pikes Peak”, is a waltzing ballad where, during the intro, Irwin’s unaccompanied alto suggests the motif at the center of its theme. There’s an interesting dialogue between the threesome here, with Baggetta forging a terrific comping, momentarily put on halt by a productive saxophone-over-drums synergy.

The music in (after) is well played but not game-changing as most tracks fail to transcend expectations. Yet, you can give it a try, especially if you’re into American music or curious about how the trio explores the expressive parallels between poetry and music.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Five Bells ► 05 - Pikes Peak ► 09 - The President Visits the Storm