Mali Sheard
Hayfever
by Howard Lawes
Hayfever is the debut album from saxophonist Mali Sheard and over Zoom she talked about the inspirations for her music and the opportunities that have been available to her.
Growing up in rural Hertfordshire with grandparents from Yorkshire and Kenya, Mali enjoys the outdoor life and has many fond memories of exploring the countryside, getting muddy and visiting Kenya as a young girl where she was fascinated by elephants.
Having learned music at home, she took up the saxophone at school via a scheme run by the Hertfordshire Music Service but admits that she wasn’t too keen on practising the classical pieces she had to play. However, one of her schoolteachers introduced her to jazz and suddenly everything changed. She joined Tomorrow’s Warriors at age 13 and then Junior Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music, led by Gareth Lockrane, when she was 14. While jazz didn’t quite take over her life it certainly took over her weekends with RAM on Saturdays and Tomorrow’s Warriors on Sundays. She remembers being a little shy on her first day with Tomorrow’s Warriors but soon made friends with people who are now members of her band. She is full of praise for both organisations and the tutors such as Gary Crosby and Binker Golding who helped and encouraged her as a teenager. Mali became a member of Tomorrow's Warriors Frontline, an all-female flagship development ensemble mentored by acclaimed drummer and composer Romarna Campbell. Members of the ensemble have formed a band called Ankora, following in the footsteps of Nérija another pioneering band that emerged from Tomorrow’s Warriors some years ago.
In 2022 Mali was accepted on to the prestigious Royal Academy of Music Jazz Course where her tutors included Giacomo Smith, Rachel Cohen, Will Vincent, Nikki Iles and Pete Churchill. During her time at RAM, she began composing and experimenting with her band Homestead, made up of musicians that she met through Tomorrow’s Warriors and RAM. Their first gig was in 2023, and appearances have included Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Bath Jazz Weekend, We Out Here and at Tomorrow’s Warrior showcases. In 2025, as Mali was finalising the content of Hayfever, she was offered participation in the Young Artists Recording Scheme, an ongoing initiative run by RAM that is generously funded and supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The scheme is designed to jump-start the professional portfolios of ambitious young classical and jazz musicians. It empowers students and recent graduates by providing them with the resources to independently curate, perform, and produce high-quality audio and video recordings.
Hayfever was released in September 2026 with Mali Sheard on alto and soprano saxophone, Keira Chakraborty on flute, Kyle Osborne on piano, George Balmont on electric bass and Luke McCarthy on drums. Mali also invited guitarist Rob Luft and pianist Huw Warren to be guest artists on the album. Mali’s compositions are inspired by her love of the countryside and her family, particularly her grandmothers, whose names she shares.
The first track on the album is called When The Sun, which begins with a nature soundscape featuring both birdsong (recorded by Mali) and instruments with Rob Luft’s ambient guitar creating the feeling of a world waking up to a new day. Mali’s composition emphsises her ongoing relationship with the natural world, stimulated by sights and sounds experienced simply by walking around outdoors.
Hayfever is a sonic narrative with a summery theme that features allergy to pollen, a jig and a thunderstorm, there is a lovely solo from Keira Chakraborty on flute. Huw Warren takes over the piano for It’s Fun To Be A Cat, a lovely melodic piece that features three contrasting solos from Chakraborty, Sheard and Warren.
Harking back to a childhood trip to Kenya, the tune Elephants sways as the animals do when they walk which gives George Balmont on bass a major role on the track that also features a great solo from Rob Luft. The demon in Afternon Tea With A Demon is portrayed as a snake as shown in the following video:
While Mali is clearly not afraid of snakes the music does have a darker tone and suggests that not everything is as it seems. What is clear is that Mali Sheard has a remarkable touch as an improviser and all that work with Tomorrow’s Warriors and at RAM has really paid off. The next track, There’s A Place, is in complete contrast with a gorgeous melody that incorporates snippets of Auld Lang Syne, the song composed by Robbie Burns celebrating friendship. The last track, Breathe, is a beautiful duet between Mali Sheard and Huw Warren, the piano tinkling like rain drops. The first and last tracks are dedicated to Mali’s grandmothers, respectively harking back to memories of the sunny warmth of Kenya and the rain of Yorkshire.
It might have been more than a little daunting for Mali to be leading recording sessions and directing her famous guest artists, Rob Luft and Huw Warren, musicians that she has long admired, but she pays tribute to both of them for their artistic and technical contributions that she found invaluable. Both performed at the album launch at Pizza Express, Soho and Rob Luft played a couple of gigs on the album tour. Mali also pays tribute to those young musicians from Tomorrow’s Warriors and RAM who have gone before and shown her the way, particularly Donovan Haffner, who recently won the Martin Hummel Endeavour Award at the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
It is clear from the tunes on Hayfever that Mali Sheard has a love of melody, alongside early music heroes such as Paul Desmond, Frank Sinatra, Brian Blade and Antonio Carlos Jobim. However, she would not have been able to turn this love into a promising career without a huge amount of work on her part, the educational opportunities that she enjoyed and all the amazing people who have been involved in her musical journey. Mali Sheard’s musical future looks very bright and if it goes according to plan may include collaboration with dance and experimenting with guitar style pedal boards to create different sounds and effects.
Alongside her lyrical melodies and intelligent improvisations we have a lot to look forward to.
You can find more about Mali Sheard on her website here, and the album Hayfever is available here.
Mali will be playing at 20 November 2026 at Crazy Coqs in Soho during the EFG London Jazz Festival.
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2026.11