Aaron Shaw, LA saxophonist, channels illness into debut album And So It Is

Los Angeles saxophonist Aaron Shaw, who was diagnosed in 2023 with bone marrow failure at age 27, will release his debut album And So It Is on 13 February.

Shaw studied with Kamasi Washington, has worked alongside Herbie Hancock and Anderson .Paak, and tutored André 3000 in music theory. He works regularly with LA bandleader Carlos Niño, played on Niño’s 2024 album Placenta and last year’s collaboration with poet Saul Williams, and Niño produced and added percussion to Shaw’s forthcoming record.

The album, which carries something of a West Coast jazz haze, is described as a lower, darker fog that Shaw navigates with quiet caution. He mostly plays tenor saxophone and alto flute on the record; the flute requires less breath, but he continues to use tenor, at times floating Lester Young–style over Chick Corea’s Windows to the Soul and sustaining long lines on Heart of a Phoenix.

Across the record listeners hear a young musician coming to terms with the end of one musical road and cautiously feeling for what comes next, with intimate loops and unexpected flute flourishes offering optimistic notes.

Key Topics

Culture, Aaron Shaw, Los Angeles, Carlos Niño, Kamasi Washington, Tenor Saxophone