Acclaimed saxophonist and composer Noah Preminger has earned
the #1 spot as “Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist” in DownBeat Magazine’s 65th
Annual Critics Poll. A group of 155 international critics from organizations
including The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, Jazziz, JazzTimes, NPR,
Rolling Stone, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Village Voice participated
in this year’s poll.
Preminger won handily in his category. A feature article in
the current edition of DownBeat cites his “distinctive character” and “huge
tenor tone and muscular rhythms.” It calls Preminger’s 2017 Meditations on
Freedom “an impassioned musical treatise.”
Meditations on Freedom was released on Inauguration Day
(January 20, 2017), as a protest album. It features Preminger’s quartet with
trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Kim Cass, and drummer Ian Froman. The album,
recorded live on the studio floor with no edits by engineer Jimmy Katz,
reimagines politically charged songs by Bob Dylan, Bruce Hornsby, Sam Cooke,
and George Harrison, and features Preminger originals including “the 99
Percent,” “Women’s March,” “Mother Earth,” “Broken Treatis,” and “We Have a
Dream.”
About his motivation to release Meditations, Preminger says,
“I realize that the key thing I can hope to do with music – particularly
instrumental jazz, with no words – is to heighten emotions. That said, some of
the most beautiful, meaningful creations in the history of jazz have been
poetic statements of protest, like John Coltrane’s ‘Alabama’ or Sonny Rollins’
‘Freedom Suite’ and so many more great examples. I would never put myself in
that category, but I’m not alone among jazz musicians today who wonder why it
is that we do this. Ultimately it’s important to care about something larger
than yourself and that’s what I am trying to convey with this music."
30-year-old Preminger has performed on stages from Boston
and New York to Europe and Australia, playing with a wide range of jazz greats
including Dave Liebman, Dave Holland, Fred Hersch, Dave Douglas, Victor Lewis,
John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Billy Drummond, George Cables, Roscoe Mitchell, Dr.
Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, John McNeil and Frank Kimbrough. A native of
Canton, Connecticut, Preminger has released eight critically acclaimed albums. His 2008 debut Dry Bridge Road was named
Debut of the Year in the Village Voice Critics Poll, along with making Top 10
Albums of the Year lists in JazzTimes, Stereophile and The Nation. In 2011 Palmetto Records released Preminger’s
next album Before the Rain, an essay in atmospheric romance that blends virtues
both modern and old school. Reviewing that album, All About Jazz said:
“Sensitivity and an ear for aural sophistication are the hallmarks of tenor
saxophonist Noah Preminger.”
Preminger’s
third album, Haymaker (Palmetto, 2013), features the saxophonist in mostly
original material (plus a Dave Matthews cover and a tune from Annie for good
measure). In The New York Times, Ben Ratliff said: “Mr. Preminger designs a
different kind of sound for each note, an individual destiny and story,” while
Nate Chinen chimed in, too, lauding his “darkly shaded… warmly expressive” tone
and his “fluency, prudence and control.” The Boston Globe called Preminger’s
music “impressive, challenging and beautiful.” In autumn 2016, Preminger
followed his fiery, blues-fueled quartet discs Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the
Ground and Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar by showing his more intimate, romantic
side again with a collection of ballads, Some Other Time, released exclusively
as a vinyl LP by Newvelle Records. He recorded this with a dream band featuring
Monder, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Billy Hart. All About Jazz,
reviewing Some Other Time, said: “With this all-star band in tow, Preminger
does what he does best: He tells a compelling story without frills – and he
does it better than he has ever done before.”
No comments:
Post a Comment