Sheard’s blowing shines through with an energy, creative curiosity and lyricism that connects well with the listener
Mali Sheard Music: MSM01
Mali Sheard (alto & soprano saxophones, composition); Keira Chakraborty (flute); Kyle Osborne (piano); Luke McCarthy (drums); George Balmont (electric bass) Guests: Huw Warren (piano on tracks 3, 5, 6 and 7); Rob Luft (guitar on tracks 1, 2 and 4)
Recorded 27/28 August 2025 at Lightship Studio, London
Debut recordings can be tricky things, balancing the need to showcase new talent in all its depth and breadth while also presenting a coherent collection of work set to impress and excite. Saxophonist Mali Sheard however makes it look so easy on this excellent new release, bringing seven of her original compositions to life with an impressive quintet and two very special guests: pianist Huw Warren and guitarist Rob Luft.
Sheard is a graduate of the Tomorrow’s Warriors development programme, continuing on a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music and mentored by artists such as Gary Crosby OBE, Nikki Iles, Binker Golding and Giacomo Smith. The album has been produced with assistance from the Royal Academy of Music’s Young Artists’ Recording Scheme, which is supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
The core band of Keira Chakraborty on flute, Kyle Osborne on piano, Luke McCarthy on drums and George Balmont on electric bass, are also friends and play with a knowing confidence and fluidity that comes from great familiarity and understanding. When Warren’s piano and Luft’s guitar guest in, they gently tug at and stretch the format, taking the group to new places and with them building excitement.
But you never forget whose album this is. Switching between alto and soprano, Sheard’s blowing shines through with an energy, creative curiosity and lyricism that connects well with the listener. Her writing is mature and assured with a strong sense of melody that carries through, rendering the images she paints with form and colour. And when things get more complex on the album, melody is still at its heart, making this such an accessible and rewarding listen.
Across the tracks she picks out poetic moments and memories, inspired by people and places, of growing up in the Hertfordshire countryside and of the Yorkshire Dales. The album draws a smile from the outset, opening ‘When The Sun’ to the sound of birdsong recorded near Sheard’s childhood home. Soprano, piano and guitar notes feather in before settling upon a joyful melody outlined by Sheard’s blowing. The experience is like waking up on a gently warming summer’s morning. It’s a strong opening piece.
The title track ‘Hayfever’, inspired by summer thunderstorms, starts from a darker, brooding place, rich in textures before briefly switching into a folk dance and then developing as a coursing dual tone anthem from which Sheard’s alto rises with Chakraborty’s pastoral solo and Luft’s guitar washes. ‘It’s Fun To Be A Cat’ has an old school nostalgic feel, like a 60s film soundtrack written large in glorious Technicolor. Sheard’s playful melody fair bounces along with unremitting joy, taken on by Chakraborty and Warren.
Balmont’s slow electric bass intro creates an instant sense of expectation on ‘Elephants’. A melody that feels at first melancholic develops into one of hope and resolution. Sheard shows some of her strongest blowing on ‘Afternoon Tea With A Demon’; a complex piece with momentum and depth where Warren’s intricate piano solo prepares the ground for Sheard’s own highly expressive and expansive solo that surges with energy.
Following the crafted tension of the previous track, ‘There’s A Place’ is something of an antidote where a breezy folk-infused theme outlines a happy space, illuminated in sunshine, that you are drawn into. The recording could easily have ended here on a significant high, but there is more. The album closes with ‘Breathe’, played as a duo between Sheard and Warren where echoed piano notes combine beautifully with Sheard’s lyrical soprano, weaving lines of delicacy and delight.
This is an impressive debut with much to enjoy, both on the surface and beneath, and an intriguing pointer for the future.
