IDENTITY By Subtraction could only be the title of a jazz album. Saxophonist Denys Baptiste laughs in recognition of that truism when York Twenty4Seven makes the cheeky suggestion in advance of tomorrow’s tour date in York to promote his new recording.

“It was a phrase I heard in a debate and it had immediate resonance for me because I’d never heard it before and I started thinking about it,” says Denys.

“It’s that thing of identifying yourself by the things that you’re not; that thing of taking on superficial things you feel you ought to be. Like playing a solo on a pop record that you do just to fit in, but then you learn to take away those things that make you just a functioning musician.

“And then, beyond music, there’s also that social thing of being a black man living in the UK.”

Born to St Lucian parents in London on September 14, 1969, Denys says he used to define himself solely as a musician.

“But I don’t do that now. I’m a husband, a father and a school governor in Enfield,” he says. “I also do things for the Arts Council, looking after a number of organisations to make sure they get their funding on time; things that I though I’d never do. So every day is different now.”

Identity By Subtraction is his first album since Let Freedom Ring! in 2003 and initially he was not even planning to make a record when his new songs started emerging.

“It took a year as I wasn’t really writing an album as such; I was just writing songs and getting on with the other parts of my life,” says Denys.

“As I have kids now, I’ve been writing when I have the time and building up stuff, and I’ve ended up with an album of music that has reggae and calypso influences, and family influences too because I’ve got to the point where my children inspire me.”

At 40, Denys reckons he is “not so frenetic now”. “I’m much easier going with my music; a more smouldering person rather than intense, and I’m trying to put that through a lens of funny time signatures, like 15/8, as I love mucking around and thinking, ‘How can I modernise that?’. With these recordings I was just trying to find a way of expressing how these things collided in my head.”

In terms of theme and styles, all the compositions on Identity By Subtraction relate to Denys’s music, the music he has heard and the different types he has played over the years.

“I started off doing pop sessions – I won’t say who for; I’m not going into that early part of my career! – but I’ve also had the chance to play in reggae bands for Manu Dbango, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs,” he says.

“All these have influenced me as that was the kind of music that I grew up listening to and it gets inside you. I wanted to get in touch with that and give it a jazz perspective.”

Age and experience have been key factors in the shaping of the new album.

“I suppose they’re a good thing,” he decides. “When I was younger I wanted to play like Michael Brecker, John Coltrane, but as part of your progression you’re absorbing other styles, and I’ve got to the point with all the music I’ve assimilated that I’m now interpreting it in my way and putting my style on it.

“This is my version of contemporary jazz with the influences that I’ve had.”

Denys will be focusing solely on his new material when he plays the National Centre for Early Music tomorrow in a quartet with pianist Andrew McCormack, double bass player Gary Crosby and drummer Rod Youngs.

“I’ve been playing for 20 years and in some ways I enjoy it more now because I really appreciate the opportunity to be doing it when lots of friends would love to still have that chance.

“Music is a hard career and very few people are able to make a living out of it; that’s why I feel privileged to be doing it as real life takes over with other commitments.”

Denys believes his musicianship is at a new peak.

“This record is the best playing I’ve ever done, and a lot of that has come from not interpreting other work, but doing my own ideas, taking away those barriers,” he says.

“Playing becomes easier. It doesn’t feel such an effort; physically I don’t feel so tired. I still do, but I play in a more relaxed style now. It’s like walking, strolling, rather than getting out of breath.”

In other words, in keeping with the title Identity By Subtraction, less is more.

• Denys Baptiste plays the National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £15, concessions £13, on 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk

Denys’s new album, Identity By Subtraction, is out now on the Dune label.