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Blindsight
Sebastian Noelle
Label: Square Times Records
Released: 2026
Duration: 00:58:00
Views: 11
Tracks
Village Life; River; Blindsight; Little Buddha; Evidence; Some Things Do; Conception; Blue's Turn; Sugar High; Noh
Personnel
Album Description
NEW YORK, NY – In neurology, “blindsight” refers to the ability to respond to visual stimuli without conscious awareness. It is a phenomenon of pure instinct—a subconscious navigation of space. For New York-based guitarist and composer Sebastian Noelle, it is the defining metaphor for his fifth album, Blindsight. After years of releases celebrated for their "thorny and labyrinthine" architectures, Noelle has dispensed with the density of his past quintets to embrace the raw, intuitive power of the jazz guitar trio.
“On my past albums, I felt like I was mostly communicating through the density of the compositions,” Noelle explains. “For this record, I wanted to feature my playing more. I wanted to see what happens when the architecture is simpler, allowing for longer solos and more visceral communication.”
The album opens with “Village Life,” a track that bridges Noelle’s childhood in the rural German village of Hoyershausen with his current life, represented by Greenwich Village and its numerous jazz clubs. This personal history continues on “River,” a 7/4 meditation inspired by German Romanticism, and “Blue’s Turn,” a swinging tribute to a childhood rivalry with his brother. While much of the record leans into a newfound simplicity—including the “zen” stillness of “Little Buddha” (a tribute to his son) and the Bill Evans-inspired “Sugar High”—the title track remains the record’s edgy center, a high-velocity sprint requiring telepathic trust.
The trio also refracts the jazz canon through Noelle’s rhythmic prism, offering a 9/4 reimagining of Monk’s “Evidence” and a 3/4 waltz-interpretation of Shearing’s “Conception.” The journey concludes with “Noh,” a slow-building, circular melody inspired by the minimalist intensity of Japanese theater. It is a final “simple gesture” that mirrors the album’s core philosophy: by trusting instinct over intellect and “seeing without seeing,” Noelle has delivered his most intimate and revealing performance to date.
Album uploaded by Sebastian Noelle
