Noah Preminger - Some Other Time (2022)

The line on Noah Preminger is that he’s a bad ass. Noah knows how to box. If he wanted to, Noah could kick your ass. Noah rides a motorcycle, and says inflammatory things. Noah jumps out of planes.

Maybe Noah’s hiding something.

Here’s an artist at the peak of his powers, stripping his technique to the bone and laying melody on the table. Backed by a band of all-stars and with no artifice, few second takes and a lack of gratuitous chops, Noah follows the tradition of the greats. To me, this is Noah’s finest album, and one of the best records of recent years, not because of its concept or even its execution, but because it does what great jazz music is supposed to do; capturing a moment in time --an emotion so fleeting it can’t be expressed in words-- and crystalizing it in wax forever.

On a ballad, you’re as exposed in the moment as improvised music can make you. Noah’s not a badass, he’s a poet. Just another sensitive dude, trying to speak the truth.

Noah Preminger - Tenor Saxophone
Ben Monder - Guitar
John Patitucci - Bass
Billy Hart - Drums