Brian Molley/Saxophone – Asin Khan Langa/Voice and Sarangi – Tom Gibbs/Piano – Bhungar Khan/Khartal – James Lindsay/Double Bass – Sadik Khan/Dholak – Stuart Brown/Drums – Latif Khan/Bhapang and Morchang
Internationally acclaimed Scottish group Brian Molley Quartet release their latest album, JOURNEYS, in collaboration with the Asin Langa Ensemble from Northern India on Friday 7th February 2025. A co-production with Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) in Jodhpur, the album was recorded in a custom-built desert studio in the heart of Western Rajasthan. Featuring BMQ’s trademark blend of jazz and world music alongside these virtuosic folk musicians, JOURNEYS is a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration.
BMQ first performed alongside Asin’s group at RIFF in 2015 as part of an extensive tour in India. It was clear from this first performance that the combined groups formed a meeting of similar musical minds despite being from radically different musical backgrounds and opposite ends of the planet. The quartet blended perfectly with the traditional instruments of the Rajasthani artists and the collaboration’s headline performance at RIFF, fusing Molley’s compositions with traditional Indian folk songs, was rapturously received. Plans were soon made for a return trip to Rajasthan for the group from Scotland, this time for an extended stay so they could develop their collaboration and record their music, resulting in the album JOURNEYS.
Formed in 2012 by Glasgow-based saxophonist and former Jazzwise ‘One to Watch’ Brian Molley, BMQ brings together some of the finest musicians from the UK’s jazz and world music scenes, with pianist Tom Gibbs, double bassist James Lindsay and drummer Stuart Brown joining Molley. Their enthusiastically received debut album, Clock was released in 2013 and was described by BBC Radio 3 as ‘a well-crafted and classy debut’ and by London Jazz News as ‘a minor masterpiece…strikingly good.’ Colour and Movement, their follow-up from 2017, was also greeted with praise, All About Jazz said, ‘Molley’s tone is gorgeous’. Subsequent releases have received similar plaudits such as ‘Molley never wastes a note’ (MOJO on 2021’s Modern Traditions) and ‘A sublime Indo-European fusion’ (Songlines Magazine on 2022’s collaboration with Indian percussionist Krishna Kishor, Intercontinental).
The quartet have been selected three times for the Made in Scotland programme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and represented the cutting edge in UK jazz at Rochester International Jazz Festival, New York as part of Made in the UK 2015. On the same trip the group played well-received club dates in New York City, drawing enthusiastic responses at Silvana in Harlem and WhyNotJazzRoom in Greenwich Village. Their numerous national and international tours include appearances at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester jazz festivals, a live session for BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up and several trips to tour, collaborate and record in India. Further international touring has recently included performances in Europe, including at Sunside/Sunset in Paris and The Jazz Station in Brussels, as well as Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand and Jarasum Jazz Festival, Seoul, South Korea.
Asin Khan Langa is a vocalist and sarangi player who performs folk music and Sufi poetry. A member of the Sarangiya Langa musical community from western Rajasthan, India, he began performing on the sarangi at the age of 11. His career has included worldwide tours performing alongside renowned Indian artists including violinist L. Subramaniam, singer Kavita Krishnamurthy, and composer-producer A.R. Rahman. International collaborations have included Scotland’s Brian Molley Quartet and Maru Tarang, in which he plays with Australian singer-songwriter Jeff Lang. He is the recipient of the prestigious Aga Khan Music Award.
Adam Roberts
Radio Summerhall Arts 