Written by Sophie Wyatt
Speaking from their hometown of Frankfurt, modern jazz duo Blair / Huber sat down to talk to us about their debut EP IN A NEW ORDER. Combining saxophone and guitar to create music that is melodic and spacious, the duo Darius Blair and Niko Huber first started playing music in the state orchestra at the age of thirteen. Since then, the friends have continued to create music in various groups before deciding they wanted to focus on their own music.
Their debut album, IN A NEW ORDER, out on Nils Frahm’s LEITER label in April, blends the improvisation of modern jazz with the subtle atmosphere of Brad Mehldau, and early Durutti Column. Before even releasing their new project, they’re already being tipped as one of the most promising acts on the flourishing German jazz scene.
Started creating the album during covid, the project has been a long time coming. However the pair admitted they believe they are off to a good start. “We started playing together because it felt easy,” they explained. “Our aesthetic just emerged naturally, most of the songs started off as just jams. It’s been an easy evolution.”
The pair explained that while they try not to become too influenced by other artists when creating their music. But having been within the same music sphere for such a long time, they explain that they have explored many artists and continue to introduce new music to each other constantly. “It’s fun because we spend the first ten minutes when we sit down together going over the new stuff we’ve been listening to. We try to get lots of influences from different directions.”
While they say that their music lands somewhere between modern and neo-jazz, they explained that they want their music to mean something unique to each person who listens to it. “I’m always a huge fan of people giving their own emotions to a song,” Darius says. “Everyone listens to a song and gives it a personal meaning, and it leads into a story or a specific moment. I want people to interpret it themselves.”
Brad agreed, “I see it as quite melancholic music, but I also want people to interpret it how they want to. From happy to nostalgic to sad, and I want it to evoke all the emotions in between.”
While the EP is released on the 20th of March, you can now listen to the pairs pre-released singles here.
