“No one likes having the saxophone played at them for an hour,” Rob Buckland, the co-founder of the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, joked in one of the many asides to the audience. And before this concert, I would have agreed. Smoke-filled jazz dives, whisky sours clinking in sync to nodding black turtle-necked goateed heads. Not really my kinda cats, to be honest. But this quartet swiftly renovated hoary ideas of saxophonist cliche in this jazzed-out reviewer. They wove together an immaculate sound world, fresh, cutting-edge and moving. Just as special was the clear enjoyment each band member took in speaking with the audience throughout the evening. Ace communicators, wonderful musicians – it was an evening for the joy of sax times four.

These Apollo guys surprised from the start by embracing the setting of the ‘Ashton Auditorium’ (formerly known as the theatre at Shrewsbury School) with a dramatic procession from the back of the space to the stage, their four soprano saxophones keening the traditional Bulgarian folk-song, ‘Kval Siri’, in a blaze of esoteric plangency and triumph. 

Four pieces from contemporary composers, specially commissioned by the Apollo, followed. ‘Trapped’ by Clare Cope turned the claustrophobia of Covid Lockdown into a jaunty mix of wistful meditation and a bouncy ostinato that capered along like a dune buggy through shifting sands of lovely, beguiling harmonies. Then they gathered the delicate threads of Dani Howard’s ‘Neverland’, an exploration of the inner child in all of us, with deft but fizzy jouissance. ‘In the Fragrant Air’ by Grace-Evangeline Mason summoned up some wonderfully buttery, English pastoral inspired by Wordsworth’s poetry – even the breeze blown through the baritone sax encircled us as we were invited to wonder at its evocation of a starlit night. Django Bates’ ‘Travel Cartoons for the Blind’ closed the first half, and set up the second, with more explorations on the cartoonish joy/chaos that children offer in supreme tight and controlled ensemble. Real virtuosic stuff!

We were invited again to commune with our inner child for the Apollo’s current special project: ‘Merry Melodies, Silly Symphonies and Looney Tunes’. Here the quartet showcased their fantastic, quirky musicianship (and arranging skills) by accompanying vintage cartoons on a big screen behind them, complete with foley effects from an array of weird and wonderful whistles, xylophones, bits, bobs, and even coconut shells. It was a multi-media festival of exuberance, exhilaration, and unalloyed delight – the type that only quality live music can deliver. 

So thank you gentlemen of the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, namely Rob Buckland, Carl Raven, Andy Scott and Jim Fieldhouse, who composed the well-deserved encore ‘Harbour Light’. And of course, to the Shropshire Music Trust for a typically refreshing and inspiring way to open their autumn programme. Because that’s certainly not all, folks – check out our What's On page for more wonderful treats heading our way.

James Fraser-Andrews