Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Noah Preminger: Before The Rain

Noah Preminger: Before The Rain

By Mark Corroto
December 30, 2010
View read count

How do you follow up one of the finest debut jazz albums of the new millennium? For saxophonist Noah Preminger, you pair down the sextet heard on Dry Bridge Road (Nowt Records, 2008) and display more of your own sound.

The twenty-something saxophonist returns with bassist

John Hébert

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">John H��bert and pianist

Frank Kimbrough

piano
1956 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Kimbrough on his Palmetto Records debut, Before The Rain (maybe a play on

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's "After The Rain"), along with everyone's favorite drummer,

Matt Wilson

drums
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Wilson. The quartet gambles the entire session here, playing mostly patient ballad, but with such strong players the risk pays off, with a rich sound and drop-dead gorgeous music.

The disc opens with Rodgers and Hart's "Where Or When," from the 1937 musical Babes In Arms. Although the track has been covered by everyone from

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington to

Dean Martin

vocals
1917 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Dean Martin, Preminger possesses it with his gentle breathy tone, played over Kimbrough's simple accompaniment. What the young saxophonist accomplishes in the short 2:19 song is the work of a lifetime. There are bits of Coltrane and parts of

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz, along with slices of

Dewey Redman

saxophone, tenor
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Dewey Redman. That Redman connection is also heard on Kimbrough's tribute to the departed saxophonist, "The Quickening," with Wilson (a former Redman band member) dancing around the melody as all the players take smart yet economical solos.

The band continues the same logic, following Redman back to the

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman tribute band,

Old and New Dreams

" data-original-title="" title="">Old and New Dreams, and Coleman's composition "Toy Dance." The quartet opens up the framework here, allowing the saxophonist to improvise in his upper register with an unconcerned playfulness. Kimbrough, a longtime Coleman interpreter, catches that same spirit skip dancing a response. This band maintains that joyfulness on "K," a piece that finds H��bert and Wilson working in different time signatures, as Preminger and Kimbrough carry the melody. Impressive stuff, here.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Where Or When; Quickening; Before The Rain; Abreaction; Until The Real Thing Comes Along; K; Toy Dance; November; Jamie.

Personnel

Noah Preminger

saxophone, tenor

Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone; Frank Kimbrough: piano; John H��bert: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

Album information

Title: Before The Rain | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Palmetto Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Journeys
< Previous

The Ticket
Next >

Noah Preminger Concerts

Sep 25 Thu

Jazz Underground - Eric Hofbauer Quintet

Lou's
Cambridge, MA

Oct 30 Thu

Jazz Underground - Eric Hofbauer Quintet

Lou's
Cambridge, MA

Support All About Jazz

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.