By Frank Alkyer | Published November 2025
There’s so much to say for youthful ambition. There’s also so much to say about 23-year-old saxophonist Emma Rawicz, who is loaded with it, in addition to a maturity that’s well beyond her years. As she says in a feature article coming out in DownBeat’s January issue, “In a couple of years I’ve gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages, playing four countries in four days and being at home hardly any of the time.” Not that she’s complaining, just stating fact. After self-releasing her first album in 2022, while still a student, she was scooped up by ACT Music for her sophomore release, Chroma. Both recordings proved to be a very good start to her career. But with her latest release, the fusion-adjacent Inkyra, Rawicz comes in full-bloom, an artist with a great vision and voice that uplifts the spirit and taps the soul. The opening track, “Earthrise,” soothes as a call to listen. It’s a minute-long meditation that slides into “Particles Of Change,” an anthemic romp beautifully arranged for her sextet, which includes Gareth Lockrane on flutes, David Preston on guitar, Scottie Thompson on keyboards, Kevin Glasgo on electric bass and Jamie Murray on drums. But when Rawicz solos on tenor saxophone, the tune lifts into the stratosphere. She shows off her serious chops in building a soaring improvisation that, at its conclusion, left this listener saying, “Whew!”
