Featured Release

Album Overview

On The Lively Air, vocalist and composer Aubrey Johnson brings together a six-piece ensemble, voice, violin, reeds, piano, bass, and drums, for a recording shaped by long-form writing, fluid pacing, and chamber-informed orchestration. Across a program of originals alongside carefully integrated repertoire, the album unfolds through extended melodic lines, shifting textures, and a flexible rhythmic language that resists fixed form. The ensemble operates as a unified sound, with Johnson’s voice embedded within the group’s fabric, allowing timbre, interaction, and compositional structure to guide the recording’s arc.

From the album…

From the album, the recording’s use of tonal depth and interior pacing comes into focus on “For Luna,” where Johnson’s arrangement subtly reshapes the group’s midrange through shifting reed roles. The composition moves through sections of motion and rubato, with lines emerging and receding rather than driving forward, before settling into a Latin-leaning feel. As the feel takes hold and the solos unfold, Johnson’s layered vocal harmonies support the piano and saxophone solos, integrating within the ensemble texture. This moment reflects the album’s broader approach to form and development, favoring gradual shifts in color and density over contrast, and allowing the ensemble’s collective voice to define the motion.

Listen to the album

Recommended listening: begin with “For Luna,” then let the album unfold.

Album Details

Artist: Aubrey Johnson
Album: The Lively Air
Label: Greenleaf Music
Release Date: March 20, 2026

Personnel:
Aubrey Johnson — voice
Tomoko Omura — violin
Alex LoRe — alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Chris McCarthy — piano, Rhodes
Matt Aronoff — bass
Jay Sawyer — drums

Track Listing:

1. Hope (Aubrey Johnson)
2. The Words I Cannot Say (Aubrey Johnson)
3. Help Me (Joni Mitchell)
4. Don’t Be Afraid (Aubrey Johnson)
5. Chorinho (Lyle Mays)
6. The Waking (Kurt Elling, Rob Amster / Theodore Roethke)
7. I’ll Never Need To Know (Aubrey Johnson / Gentry Johnson)
8. For Luna (Aubrey Johnson)
9. The Miracle Is In Us (Tomoko Omura)
10. Quem é Você (Close To Home) (Lyle Mays / Luiz Avellar)