Alden Hellmuth: ‘Tether’

There’s a brilliant new sax player on the block, and her name is Alden Hellmuth.

With Tether, Hellmuth has created a style that is very much her own, not least in the unusual two-bass acoustic jazz ensemble: Yakiv Tsvietinskyi (trumpet), Paul Cornish (piano), Logan Kane (bass) Miller Wrenn (bass) and Justin Brown (drums).

Released in advance of the album, the single Face The Wall sets out Hellmuth’s sax playing at the top of her game, while Microfictions opens the album and introduces us to Hellmuth’s rhythmic and expansive sax style. Both tunes are created and performed to show the ‘tether’ of the title - there is a thread that connects the players, allowing them a freedom and a return to each other.

The intense, rhythmic start to Definitely Not Friends continues as sax and trumpet join in the frenetic pace that allows the whole ensemble to fuse melody and rhythm in improvisations and every time they come together. There’s something deeply satisfying about the ending of this track in particular - it feels like they’ve said what they want to say and it’s time to move on.

Although I missed Hellmuth’s 2024 debut album - Good Intentions - I’m glad this punk, jazz, free musician has finally come to my ears. I’m looking forward to finding out more when I interview her for a future episode of Harmonious World.

‘Tether’ is out on 26 June on Leiter