Alabaster Deplume

About

Also known as: Angus Fairbairn

Alabaster DePlume, the stage name of Manchester born saxophonist and spoken word poet Angus Fairbairn, blends jazz, poetry, and a quietly fierce politics into something that doesn't really fit anywhere else. His 2020 instrumental album To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 was the one that broke through, built on what The Guardian called "tentative, breathy sax melodies laid over downtempo, atmospheric chord voicings". The Cy and Lee of the title are two musicians with learning disabilities he befriended while working with Manchester charity Ordinary Lifestyles, and that warmth runs through everything he does. His follow up Gold, Go Forward in the Courage of Your Love arrived in April 2022 and landed even harder critically, scoring 8.4 on Pitchfork and a Best New Music tag. He recorded it at the Hackney based Total Refreshment Centre, deliberately giving the assembled musicians no time to rehearse, wanting them to look up from the page and react to each other. The result was described as a "balm of spoken word and spiritual jazz, both strangely uncomfortable and strangely comforting". He has since released Come with Fierce Grace and A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole.