Pain, sorrow, struggle, resilience,
fortitude, truth - deeply profound emotions and experiences form the core of
the Delta blues. The raw, unvarnished songs of that region struck a powerful
nerve with saxophonist Noah Preminger, who connects with their captivating
directness and soul-rattling expressiveness on his fifth album, Dark Was the
Night, Cold Was the Ground. On the second release with his highly attuned,
boldly adventurous quartet, Preminger explores nine haunting blues classics
from the pre-war Mississippi Delta in stark but vigorous new arrangements.
Due out May 6, 2016, Dark Was the
Night, Cold Was the Ground was recorded at the Sidedoor Jazz Club in Old Lyme,
Connecticut, and engineered by Jimmy Katz. Preminger hails the renowned
photographer/recording engineer for his dedication to capturing a
"pure" sound, and the evidence is there in the vital, unadorned live
feel of the record - which was captured live with absolutely no overdubs. Katz
allowed the quartet a tremendous freedom but also brought his vast depth of
knowledge to the project whenever needed.
The album follows last year's
similarly self-released Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar, which offered a wholly
different take on the source material. On that album, Preminger and the same
stellar band - with Jason Palmer (trumpet), Kim Cass (double-bass) and Ian
Froman (drums) - offered far-ranging expansions of two Bukka White songs,
stretching both past the 30-minute mark.
Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the
Ground presents a more concise but no less keen-edged approach, expanding the
repertoire to include songs by such immortal bluesmen as Skip James, Robert
Johnson, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson and, once again, Bukka White.
The quartet seizes on the stirring melodies and fervent emotions of the
originals while taking them into the intense, venturesome realm of fearless
jazz pathfinders like John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.
Preminger says that the Delta blues
is "the most real, most heartfelt music that I've ever heard. It has all
the characteristics that I want in my playing: sincerity, storytelling, and an
urgency to get my message across. I love that music, and I love their
voices."
The saxophonist's fascination with
the music of these Delta bluesmen stems not from any particular revelation or
event - there was no soul-searching trek down the Mississippi or life-altering
tragedy that suddenly allied Preminger
with these singers. "These are guys who spent most of their lives in jail
or on a farm and were drunks or led
really messed-up lives, so the things they talk about I can't necessarily
relate to," he admits. "But it's very real, and you don't hear that
very often in contemporary music. It's not a poor man's music anymore. They had
everything going against them; they weren't drinking tea and doing yoga."
If anything, it's this
disillusionment with more modern music and its more cerebral, less rooted
nature that made the Delta blues resonate so strongly with Preminger. The
saxophonist insists that he rarely listens to recorded music at all these days,
and only to vintage blues recordings on the rare occasions that he does.
"I think that a lot of artists today have a hard time separating
themselves from trends," he explains. "So something that recently
came to me is I need to be making the music that I really want to make and
throw everything else out the window. The most important part is that it be
heartfelt and sincere and intense. I want people to feel something. You feel
real emotion every time that you listen to the greatest masters in the history
of this art: John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Andrew Hill, Bill Evans, Miles
Davis, Ornette Coleman. That's missing now."
It's impossible to listen to blues
artists like Skip James or Bukka White and not feel something, and while
Preminger transforms their music he retains its ability to touch the listener.
Over an intense pulse, he and Palmer echo James' call-and-response vocal on
"Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues;" a fragment of the melody of Robert
Johnson's "Love in Vain" becomes the source of the quartet's achingly
mournful rendition. On the title track, Blind Willie Johnson's moaning original
is slowed even further, becoming a dirge-like lament interspersed with sections
of group improvisation.
The familiar melody of "Trouble
in Mind" is expressed as a yearning hymn, introduced in an intimate duo
setting by Preminger and Cass. Willie Brown's "Future Blues" is given
a spare, soulful treatment which grows increasingly turbulent during the solo sections
thanks to Froman's roiling rhythm. Preminger and Palmer channel the tandem of
Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry for "Spoonful Blues," while
"Black Snake Moan" is imbued with a playful, New Orleans funkiness.
White's "I Am the Heavenly Way" is taken with a fierce urgency, and
"I Shall Not Be Moved" closes the album in sanctified, almost elegiac
fashion.
In this still-new quartet, Preminger
has found an ideal unit for investigating the possibilities of such
communicative, mutable music. "These guys are special, and you just don't
find that all the time," he says. "It seems like everyone's very
spiritual and very kind, and just like these Delta musicians, everyone in this
band plays like it's their last day on earth. It makes coming together a pretty
special time. I think this band could do anything."
A native of Canton, Connecticut,
Preminger released his debut album, Dry Bridge Road, shortly after graduating
from the New England Conservatory. It immediately met with great acclaim,
including Debut of the Year honors in the Village Voice Critics Poll and Top 10
Albums of the Year rankings in JazzTimes, Stereophile and The Nation. It was
followed by Before the Rain (2011), featuring pianist Frank Kimbrough, bassist
John Hébert, and drummer Matt Wilson; and Haymaker (2013), with guitarist Ben
Monder, bassist Matt Pavolka, and drummer Colin Stranahan. Both garnered more
praise, with the New Yorker calling Preminger "a lyrical young tenor
saxophonist whose alert work on three albums has drawn considerable critical
attention."
Preminger has also been featured in
bands led by Fred Hersch and Cecil McBee, and recorded four albums for Brooklyn
Jazz Underground as a member of the Rob Garcia 4. He's shared the stage with
the likes of Dave Holland, Dave Douglas, Victor Lewis, John and Bucky
Pizzarelli, Billy Drummond, George Cables, Roscoe Mitchell, and Dr. Eddie
Henderson. In addition to Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, 2016 will
also see the release of a quartet album featuring Monder, bassist John
Patitucci, and legendary drummer Billy Hart on the French vinyl-only label
Newvelle.
