Aerie was hatched in 2012, at the summer workshop of the International Association of Schools of Jazz in Graz, where German alto saxophonist Ingo Hipp met Irish tenor saxophonist Sam Comerford.
Add Swiss guitarist Laurent Méteau, Estonian bassist Peedu Kazz and Dubliner Matthew Jacobson on drums and you have a quintet typical of the dynamism and collegiality of the contemporary European scene.
Not that Aerie necessarily sound like anyone else. Sure, there are echoes of Steve Coleman and Tim Berne, traces of funk and metal, even overtones from folk and trad.
But Hipp’s thoughtful compositions search out new spaces and new grooves. And, with the excellent rhythm section egging them on, Hipp and Comerford prove themselves capable of that elusive sound of surprise.
