Outlines is Byrne’s Avant-Jazz project, built around compositions that invite improvisation and collective exploration. The music emerged from a unique creative process involving visual art, which inspired a series of short musical sketches—outlines—that stand alone as artistic statements and serve as springboards for dynamic, spontaneous ensemble interaction.
The sextet features a hand-picked lineup of standout improvisers from the UK scene: Nick Malcolm (trumpet), Tom Ward (clarinets), Rebecca Nash (piano), Olie Brice (double bass), and Andrew Lisle (drums).
Outlines’ debut album was released on Whirlwind Recordings in June 2023. It was featured in Best Jazz on Bandcamp, July 2023, and the Best of Jazz UK 2023 Spotify playlist, with airplay on Jazz FM and BBC Radio 3.
‘This album is a fine example of how to catch the freshness of improvisatory music within the discipline of imaginative composition.’ Tony Benjamin, Jazzwise ★★★★[full review]
‘Byrne has achieved exactly the right balance between composition and improvisation with her intelligent, inventive and often complex themes providing the perfect launch pad for her hand picked group’ Ian Mann, The Jazz Mann ★★★★ [full review]
‘… written composition expertly crafted to cradle adventurous improvisation.’ Jon Turney, LondonJazz News [full review]
‘Outlines treads the fine line between demanding improvised and abstract musical forms and harmonic beauty to create a musical statement with satisfying tension.’ James Read, ukvibe magazine [full review]
‘Outlines is an album of sharp edges and sudden turns, of staggered motion and harmonic twists, and yet Dee Byrne guides it all into a logical flow—a fluid output that makes its disparate parts snap into place.’ Dave Sumner, Best Jazz on Bandcamp July 2023 [full review]
A sold-out performance at Bath Jazz Weekend in January 2025 received glowing reviews:
‘… a contemporary approach to small band, collective, free-wheeling improvisations. Her layered and pulsing themes, driven along by the energy of Olie Brice’s bass and Andrew Lisle on the kit, prepared the ground for some formidable and expansive soloing, not least from Byrne herself.’ Mike Collins, UK Jazz News
‘Saxophonist Dee Byrne’s Outlines sextet swung effortlessly from harmonic chorales to free blowing anarchy and back’ Tony Benjamin, Bristol24/7
‘I wasn’t the only audience member to enjoy this thrilling blend of composition and improvisation with Byrne’s evocative, colourful and intelligent writing given colourful voice by a supremely talented sextet of hand picked collaborators.’ Ian Mann, The Jazz Mann
DEE BYRNE 