What do you get when you bring together four of the outstanding and high-profile musicians in their field? A clash of egos? Not in the case of the jazz “supergroup” AZIZA, whose individual members left generous room for each other’s bursts of creativity in a display of sheer musicality and inspired playing.

Aziza is to the jazz world what the Three Tenors are to classical music, except there are four members rather than three. Its musicians come from diverse backgrounds but are united by a long history of playing jazz. The group comprises American saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Lionel Loueke from Benin in Africa, British bassist Dave Holland and drummer Eric Harland.

The members of AZIZA first came together ten years ago to record the seminal album of the same name. All four were bandleaders and composers in their own right, with stellar careers behind them. Effectively the group’s leader for the project, Holland was a three-time Grammy winner who had played with Miles Davis. Loueke records for the prestigious Blue Note label. Potter has played with such jazz luminaries as Herbie Hancock and guitarist Jim Hall, while Harland is one of the most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene and a member of jazz titan Charles Lloyd’s quartet.

Aziza: Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Eric Harland and Lionel Loueke. Photo supplied

They came together again to mark the tenth anniversary of their album, touring internationally to perform it live. As on the album, they shared the compositional honours, with all four members contributing. There was no mistaking the elegance and harmonic sophistication of Loueke’s guitar playing on the opening number, his composition AZIZA Dance, which also revealed a distinctly African influence. There were engaging harmonies and gently ringing notes. The piece was underpinned by Holland’s emphatic bass patterns, which developed an inviting dance feel as the music progressed.

Potter’s playing on tenor saxophone was prodigious. During his solos, he moved fluently between enthrallingly fast arpeggio patterns, colourful phrases that were repeated and expanded, rhythmic staccato passages and punctuating high notes. At one point, he and Loueke exchanged ideas, alternating melodic lines.

On his composition Summer 15, Potter played bass clarinet against a boppy rhythm. His solo moved smoothly between contrasting ideas. Potter ranged across the instrument, drawing out its lower register and taking the music somewhere unexpected. Loueke layered the music with gorgeous guitar lines, while Harland demonstrated great finesse on drums.

This was followed by a piece that opened with a mood-setting bass solo. When the saxophone and guitar entered, they were accompanied by subtle drum rolls, while Holland’s bass moved between intervals. A show-stopping exchange of rhythms between Holland’s bass and Harland’s drumming built momentum before Harland deftly brought the pace back down, with Potter finishing the piece on fluttering saxophone notes.

On Potter’s composition Blue Sufi, Loueke’s playing shimmered with lyrical warmth, while Potter’s high-energy performance reached into the upper register to trill notes and hold them, injecting excitement. At one point, after Potter trilled a note, Harland echoed the sound on the cymbals, bringing a moment of light-hearted humour to the performance.

This was followed by a composition by Harland, featuring a melodic bass opening from Holland that led into soaring saxophone, accompanied by Loueke’s ethereal singing and guitar. Harland softly established a rhythm with mallets on the cymbals before returning to his drumsticks to create a ticking, propulsive sound.

Holland revealed that the band had flown into Australia that morning, but there was no lack of sparkle or polish in its performance. Hearing this band and experiencing its musicianship was nothing short of extraordinary. On a rating system that tops out at five stars, AZIZA deserved five and a half.

Aziza plays the City Recital Hall, Sydney on 28 October, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, 29 October, and His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth on 1 November, part of the 2026 Perth International Jazz Festival.