Jazz Articles about Noah Preminger

About Noah Preminger

Album Review

Noah Preminger possesses one of the most beautiful tones in jazz, and he knows it. He is not inclined to tarnish that sound--nor should he. It is the product of years of rigorous work. His challenge, rather, lies in his relative youth, in jazz terms. Admired already, Preminger also understands that his best years likely lie ahead. His well-regarded album Ballads (Chill Tone 2025) confirms his lyric gifts, yet it also raises the question: What next? Think of Coltrane--could one ...

Radio & Podcasts

Noah Preminger: A Veteran Saxophonist Tackles The Ballad

by Lawrence Peryer
April 12, 2025

Today, the Spotlight shines On renowned saxophonist Noah Preminger.Boston-based saxophonist Noah Preminger has spent years pushing jazz into new territories before focusing on one of the art form's most enduring traditions. He's just released Ballads (Chill Tone, 2025), a collection that finds this restless musical explorer settling into the quiet power of beautiful melodies.Noah's built his reputation on bold musical choices--from stark Delta blues interpretations to intricate duo sessions with bassist Kim Cass. But with this ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

Read "Ballads" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
March 28, 2025

Noah Preminger has long been an artist who thrives at the intersection of tradition and innovation. On Ballads, the tenor saxophonist delves into the depths of lyricism with a quartet that exudes understated intensity: pianist Julian Shore, bassist Kim Cass, and drummer Allan Mednard. This release communicates in whispers rather than shouts, yet it never loses its sense of adventure. Preminger's tone -warm, breathy, elastic, guides the listener through a charming set of originals, carefully selected ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

by Dan Bilawsky
February 20, 2025

Balladry becomes Noah Preminger. And that may come as a surprise to some. Over the past seventeen years and about as many releases, this critically-acclaimed tenor saxophonist has often made his mark going the opposite way--in myriad bold-and-beyond settings where he's thrown haymakers with precision, explored duo dynamism with bassist Kim Cass, pushed the envelope through the demanding music of Steve Lampert, or investigated the gravity of the delta blues with a probing mindset. Yet there's something about his softer ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

Read "Ballads" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
February 13, 2025

Il ritorno a casa. Col suo bellissimo suono di tenore, Noah Preminger inanella in meno di trentotto minuti sette sue composizioni ispirate--anzi totalmente concepite--nel segno del titolo, molto semplicemente Ballads. E qui naturalmente si apre la querelle: i tradizionalisti andranno in brodo di giuggiole (evocando magari l'omonimo album di John Coltrane), perché il disco è assolutamente perfetto (o lì nei pressi), altri--come chi scrive--conoscendo, e apprezzando, la curiosità creativa del trentottenne sassofonista del Connecticut, la sua capacità di mettere il ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

by Jack Kenny
February 4, 2025

Noah Preminger is a philosophical, thought-through artist who can gauge the impact of his playing and his thinking on his intended audience. It is interesting to compare Preminger's Ballads to John Coltrane's Ballads (Impulse!, 1963), an illuminating set of familiar tunes that was reputedly instigated after his quartet's first tour of Europe, with Eric Dolphy in tow. Accusations of “anti-jazz" flew. It was hoped that this step back into the Standards on his Ballads album would answer the"anti- jazz" accusations. ...

Album Review

Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces

Read "Open Spaces" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
September 23, 2023

The subtitle of this album is “Folk Songs Reimagined" and Daniel Hersog uses a very liberal meaning for the term “folk song" here. He includes traditional folk songs on this album, in addition to familiar tunes by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot and his own folk-based compositions. All are given a glistening polish in the sweeping cinematic arrangements which he writes for his orchestra, and are further enhanced by excellent solo work from a number of musicians. Hersog's ...