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Noah Preminger
Jazz Saxophonist/Composer
About Me
NOAH PREMINGER, Palmetto Records artist, is one of the fastest-rising tenor saxophonists
and composers on the jazz scene today, and the leader of the NOAH PREMINGER QUARTET.
NOAH PREMINGER’S latest CD, “Before the Rain” (Palmetto Records, 2011) has received rave
reviews in the New York Times, DownBeat, Jazz Times and many other influential
publications, and has been getting radio airplay all across the United States. Based in New
York City, Noah is a constant presence in the city’s jazz clubs as both a leader and an in-
demand sideman, and his international tours have brought his music to audiences in
Europe and Australia.
It’s natural for those being introduced to Noah’s music to be surprised to learn that the
seasoned, virtuosic saxophone improvisations they’re hearing are being created by an
artist who happens to be only 25 years old. It’s equally natural that Noah’s concept for his
quartet’s innovatively swinging sound and acclaimed interpretations of jazz ballads would
come to its ideal realization via a musical partnership with some of the most accomplished
veterans of the New York scene: pianist Frank Kimbrough, bassist John Hébert, and
drummer Matt Wilson, the musicians who join Noah on “Before the Rain.”
In the space of just a few short years, Noah has already won recognition as one of the most
distinctive instrumental voices in jazz. Noah’s first CD, “Dry Bridge Road” (Nowt Records,
2008), was named the year’s “Best Debut” in the 2008 Village Voice Jazz Critics’ Poll, and
Noah was one of the elite nominees for the 2009 Jazz Journalists Association Award won
by Esperanza Spalding that year for “Up and Coming Jazz Artist of the Year.”
In addition to his work as a bandleader, Noah’s growing reputation and avid interest in the
musical wisdom of elder masters has resulted in appearances and projects with such artists
as Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, Dave Holland, Fred Hersch, Dave Douglas, Victor Lewis, John and
Bucky Pizzarelli, John McNeil, Billy Drummond, George Cables, Roscoe Mitchell, Dr. Eddie
Henderson, Kendra Shank, Ben Monder and Dave Liebman.
Noah’s arrival in New York City was preceded by enthusiastic buzz emanating from Boston,
where his status as a standout student at the New England Conservatory of Music and
numerous public performances eventually led to concerts by the Noah Preminger Quartet
at Boston’s famous Scullers Jazz Club. In an article about Noah in the Boston Phoenix,
music critic Jon Garelick wrote, “His sound is informed by everybody but beholden to no
one, which makes him continually unpredictable and continually satisfying.”