Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Noah Preminger: Haymaker

3

Noah Preminger: Haymaker

By

View read count
Noah Preminger: Haymaker
Although saxophonist Noah Preminger titled his disc Haymaker, a term denoting a wildly unorthodox punch thrown by a boxer, his third release as a leader (second for Palmetto) is anything but undisciplined. Following Before The Rain (Palmetto, 2011), he reorganizes his quartet and reunites with guitarist Ben Monder from debut sextet session Dry Bridge Road (Nowt Records, 2008). The pair share an affinity for disciplined music making and the gifts of musical sprezzatura and a pure tone.

Their music fits hand-in-glove throughout. The composition "Rhonda's Suite" could be mistaken for another saxophone/guitar pairing, that of Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell in Paul Motian's bands. Even drummer Colin Stranahan adopts the Motian role, painting with cymbals and quiet toms. Preminger molds the ten tracks (seven originals) to showcase not only his sound, but that of an ensemble. Versatile bassist Matt Pavolka anchors things throughout. His pulse ignites the quartet's cover of alt-rocker Dave Matthews' "Don't Drink The Water," which halfway through, is given over to a brief noble stretch of jazz improvisation. The track certainly begs for a live performance.

The title track and Monder's "Animal Planet" provide intricate passages and complex atmospherics that could lose the melodies if not for the quality of the players. Preminger has a knack for making the knotty quite smooth. His sound recalls Lovano, Mark Turner and Chris Potter. Like Sonny Rollins he can make even the schmaltzy sound beautiful. His version of "Tomorrow" from Annie, played in a breathy, after-hours style, eschews sappy for tender and reestablishes the tune. Likewise, his gentle and majestic "My Blues For You" is given to a refined sense of balance. Preminger throws no wild punches here, all are well timed and hit quite hard.

Track Listing

Morgantown; My Blues For You; Haymaker; Animal Planet; Tomorrow; 15,000; Stir My Soul; Rhonda’s Suite; Don’t Drink The Water; Motif Attractif.

Personnel

Noah Preminger
saxophone, tenor

Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone; Ben Monder: guitar; Matt Pavolka: bass; Colin Stranahan: drums.

Album information

Title: Haymaker | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Palmetto Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.