Málaga-born, Basel-based flautist and composer Fernando Brox returns with What We Don’t See, an album that ventures into the hidden frameworks shaping both sound and experience. Built from twelve-tone rows, Messiaen modes, set theory, and other atonal systems, the music reveals an underlying architecture that listeners may feel without ever fully perceiving. Recorded in under three hours at Jazzcampus Basel—with many first takes—the quartet balances angular writing with open, exploratory passages, while Brazilian drummer Paulo Almeida adds a spiritual resonance through pandeiro and vocal chants.
In this interview, Brox reflects on the compositional systems that inspired the album, the instinctive nature of the recording session, and the quiet interplay between intensity and space. He speaks about finding his own path as an artist, valuing the different ways others approach creativity, and why embracing the unseen matters—musically and personally.
You come from a long classical background before turning fully to jazz and modern music. What triggered that transition, and how does your classical training still shape the way you play or write? For readers who discovered your 2024 album From Within, how is this new offering different?
For this last work I approached the compositional process in a more cerebral way, using predetermined systems and trying to stick to them. The music of From Within came in a more natural way, I just tried to express what I had. This time I wanted to try step out of my self and come up with new (for me) ideas and sonorities. I have enjoyed very much this process, and I intend to keep going in this direction. On the other hand, the ultimate goal was to make music that feels fresh and inviting for the listener, as well as for my bandmates — that aim was present in the previous record too.
The flute often operates on the fringes of jazz; who are your inspirations on this instrument?
From the past I would say: Eric Dolphy, Bobby Jaspar, James Moody, Hubert Laws, Jerome Richardson, Rashand Roland Kirk, Joe Farrel or Tubbie Hayes. Nowadays I enjoy very much Elena Pinderhuges, Jorge Pardo, Joe Melnikov, Garreth Lockane or Magic Malik.
The album was recorded in under three hours, mostly in first takes. How do you prepare a band for that kind of high-pressure, spontaneous session?
With one or two rehearsals maximum and one or two gigs, so everyone is on the same page and knows exactly what the music is about and what it requires. Also, according to my experience in Studio, it doesn’t really get any better after 2 or 3 takes.
You’ve said the record is about “finding your own way of doing things.” What does that look like day-to-day in your composing and practising life?
Regarding composition, it’s an ever-lasting process that involves several disciplines: researching, listening, studying other people’s music, and of course trying to shape my own ideas, whether they are truly original or derived from someone else. In the end, I’m simply trying to find things that are appealing to me. The same applies to practicing. I would say it’s a mix of looking both outside and inside.
The music feels both intricate and physical. How do you translate complex written ideas into something that still grooves and breathes for the listener?
I’m glad you think so! I just try not to be blinded by the profession. In a practice as complex as composition, with so many layers and processes involved, it’s very easy to lose touch with reality and disappear into the mind’s world. As artists and creators, we need that—but we also need to stay in touch with our “amateur” side and be able to feel and think as a non professional/musically trained person would do.
What musical influences do you think listeners will be able to hear in this record?
Difficult to say! I would rather hear what people have to say than tell you what I think is in there. Nevertheless, I definitely feel Immanuel Wilkins’ influence on the second track (“XII”). He is a major influence for many musicians nowadays, and I’m happy to see how my phrasing has evolved since I started listening to his music.
Finally, after What We Don’t See, where do you want to take your writing and playing next? What does 2026 have in store?
I want to keep researching and discovering. My main sources of investigation at the moment are 20th-century composers such as Bartók, Hindemith, Stravinsky, and Messiaen. I would love to create music inspired by these sonorities. I would also love to bring morphing and other rhythmic concepts into my music, drawing on artists like Petter Eldh, Kaja Draksler, and Kit Downes. Let’s see!
