For those not in the know, Aaron Bazzell is a musician, composer and educator based out of Brooklyn, NY. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of eight the family moved down south.

Growing up in Metro-Atlanta, he would eventually come home from school one today to find that his father had purchased an alto saxophone. After receiving some encouragement from his middle school band director, he quickly became serious about the instrument.

Originally a classical saxophonist, it was the increased opportunity for freedom of expression along with the sense of community among its practitioners that would lead him to shift his focus to jazz.

He holds a B.M. in jazz studies from Michigan State University and a M.A. in music education from Teachers College. His primary teachers include Don Taylor, Jack Morrell, Greg Ward, Wess Anderson, and Diego Rivera.

Aaron also teaches music at Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts where he hopes to develop within his students the same attributes of empathy, focus and consistency that a life in music has provided him.

His debut album, Aesthetic (due out April 22nd, 2022), is more than just a random collection of nine new pieces, but moreover a coherent body of work that coveys both the beauty and the struggle of the human experience.

Thus, and with each track displaying components of music that he himself holds dear to heart, such as groove, melody, communication, amongst others, Aesthetic weaves a story that brings forth Bazzell’s very own musical and personal development thus far.

1. Tomorrow Today (5:36)
2. Asked and Answered (4:29)
3. Unrequited (5:12)
4. First Period Prep (6:49)
5. Purpose (6:09) (feat. Rachel Robinson)
6. Eventually (3:46)
7. Maktub (4:29)
8. Up and Away (6:11)
9. Increase and Persist (3:08)

This vibrantly alluring album opens on a huge wake-up call to the population about the fleeting nature of time within the mid-tempo hipsway of Tomorrow Today and then our innate feelings of regret and how to handle them are brought forth within the tantalizingly melodic Asked and Answered, before the laid-back, late-night club atmosphere of sorrowful regrets are showcased within Unrequited.

Next up, a doleful piano work acts as the quiet before the smooth groove storm within a teacher’s day on First Period Prep and that is in turned backed by the artful journey of chasing a dream outlined with the infectious grooves of Purpose, and the romantic calling of Eventually (featuring Rachel Robinson).

Along next is a track inspired by Pablo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, the upbeat and snazzy samba groove of Maktub, the album rounding out on a gently fervent track that chronicles the stages of a past relationship, Up and Away, coming to a most righteous close on a song of encouragement for the people of African diaspora, and which features a title in rebuttal to the phrase Cease and Desist, the rambunctiously cultured Increase and Persist.

Official Website

Aaron Bazzell @ Twitter

Aaron Bazzell @ Instagram