The Body Is Only Light is Muscat’s seventh, and the third he has recorded in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv since moving to the city four years ago. A trio album, it features Muscat on saxophone and Ukrainian musicians Kostiantyn Ionenko on bass and drummer Dmytro Lytvynenko.
Amid military restrictions preventing men leaving Ukraine, however, the Ta’ Xbiex performance will see the album performed as a quartet featuring local and internationally based Maltese musicians.
“There are new compositions and older works – but none of which have been recorded before,” said Muscat, who composed all the tracks on the album.
Asked about the title, the saxophonist said it was a phrase he had come across while reading: “Many times I take note of inspiring phrases, because I know that eventually I will use them for compositions”.
Muscat describes the album as representing a change in his musical direction, which began to change course following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“As soon as the war started, I began to realise my playing was changing a lot; it became more aggressive,” he said.
The preceding album, Hymns, was aimed at “showing the role of the saxophone as an instrument that can sing, not focusing on extra notes or the ‘Instagramation’ [ostentatious displays of instrumental technique] of the instrument and the music,” Muscat explained.
“I wanted to get away from that and just show what the instrument is supposed to be,” he said.
Muscat’s latest album, meanwhile, featuring a trio – an ensemble he describes as naturally lending itself to being “raw and more aggressive” – allowed the saxophonist to explore a different sound world, while also presenting certain challenges.
“It’s bare and maybe a little more vulnerable for each instrument as there is less going on… I usually play jazz standards in trios, but this is totally different,” he said.
“You can’t just have the bass play a few notes like in a standard; you have to understand what each instrument is going to do to really bring out the idea of the composition.”
Muscat explained that for “certain compositions that were harmonically rich, I needed to understand if I was going to write something for the bassist, and guide him [Ionenko] to play busier, with more notes than in a regular quartet setup”, for example.
Did he miss the presence of a harmony instrument such as the piano or guitar?
“For me, the trio has everything.”
While the album was recorded for trio, this weekend’s upcoming concert sees the album performed in a quartet featuring bassist Oliver Degabriele, drummer Ġużè Camilleri and pianist Daniel Sant.
Muscat has performed in various projects with Degabriele and Camilleri and invited Sant – visiting his native Malta from the Netherlands – to perform the album as a quartet.
Asked about performing the tracks in a quartet setting, Muscat said he usually asked guitarists or pianists joining the trio for the project to focus on “adding some colours; without the chords, there’s already everything”.
Discussing the players appearing on the album, the saxophonist noted that Ionenko was a long-standing collaborator, appearing on his previous album and a bassist he began playing with soon after moving to Kyiv.
Lytvynenko, meanwhile, is a newer addition to Muscat’s musical network and a drummer he describes as “incredible; from just a few words, he understood exactly what I meant, and that doesn’t happen with a lot of other drummers.”
“There are certain musicians who have this ability to understand what the music is supposed to be like,” he said.
With Russia’s war against Ukraine still raging on, however, Muscat said opportunities to perform with Lytvynenko were rare: “He’s in another city and can’t travel at the moment – it’s an issue with military documents; some people can’t move to other cities”.
“I haven’t been able to play with him again [since the album], but hopefully we will manage to do so soon.”
Turning to Saturday’s gig, Muscat noted the quartet will perform in Storeroom’s new performance space he describes as a “game changer” for the venue, located in a separate unit next to the bar.
“When we don’t have shows, we have a lot more space. And I think eventually we won’t be using the old stage anymore, because it works much better in the new area,” he said, while noting the old stage could continue to see use as a DJ area.
Muscat is the co-owner of the music bar which first opened its doors in 2019.
The saxophonist will be in Malta for another week before heading to Barcelona for two shows then returning to Kyiv.
Reflecting on his two-months visit to Malta, which included a performance at the opening night of the Malta Jazz Festival, Muscat called the international event “the best time of the year for us [jazz musicians].”
“I was going to the jam sessions too, and it’s just great to keep meeting musicians,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about”.
To find out more about Saturday night’s performance, visit the event page on Facebook.
