Volant, meaning the ability to fly, are a contemporary jazz quartet inspired by the beauty and intricacy of birds — and the freedom they embody. Led by saxophonist Matthew Ottignon, and completed by pianist Lauren Tsamouras, bassist Hannah James, and drummer Hayley Chan, their music is velvet and granite; soft, subtle, hard and boisterous in equal measure.

The band’s debut album (Earshift Music, 2024) was born out of Ottignon’s extended period of pandemic solitude, a rare stillness in a career defined by relentless touring and collaboration. Alone with his reeds and recordings, he jammed to Joe Lovano, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman and The Necks, composing music that became “an echo of all the sounds that had resonated with me over the years.” The result was deeply personal: a modern acoustic jazz language rooted in the spiritual searching of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, yet unmistakably original.

As the Sydney Morning Herald states, “the impression of flight is not observed, but is experienced and exhilarating.” Central to Volant’s identity are the musicians Ottignon has carefully assembled: Tsamouras brings chromatic hues, sparse but luminous; James grounds the ensemble, her arco work conjuring dark, textured mystery; and Chan’s drumming gives the band a new, propulsive motion, alert to every shift in the music’s current.

In the time since their debut, the quartet has continued to evolve, their live performances now incorporating new compositions from all members. The forthcoming second album, Shimmer, promises to deepen their collective voice — from groove-driven guttural intensity to the most delicate and contemplative of moods. Volant elevates into something much grander: music that holds joy and melancholy in the same breath, born of introspection, and offered outward.