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Jake Noble: Letting Go Of A Dream

By Dan McClenaghan
August 24, 2024
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Making art is about a search for authenticity, a search for the truth. But the truth is complicated, and our perceptions of it can change over time. The concept for Letting Go Of A Dream, the debut recording from New Orleans-based bassist Jake Noble, began as a tribute to some of his well-chosen truth-telling heroes: pianist

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans, bassist

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden and saxophonist

Kenny Garrett

saxophone, alto
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Garrett. But Noble, in the crafting of these original tunes, found that things evolved. Yes, he still nods to Evans, Haden and Garrett, but he also pushes aside some curtains to enter into a journey of discovery, with each tune representing a step towards self-acceptance.

"What Could Have Been" took its inspiration from Bill Evans' "Time Remembered." Opening with an extended piano trio introduction, this wistful, bittersweet exploration of missed opportunities brightens with the entrance of

Autumn Dominguez

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Autumn Dominguez's sweet and sour alto saxophone tone. What could have been? What might have been? Truths we will never know; elusive truths that are well served by the musical examination here, with Dominguez taking the sound into the realm of anguish, and then regret.

"The Push Factor" has an upbeat, Kenny Garrett vibe, and "Acceptance of the Journey" goes through a half dozen gear shifts, mirroring the changes and stumbles and detours, the winding roads and inevitable switchbacks that life brings, while "Farewell To The Kid From Spring" is the first take laid down in the recording session, a duet featuring bassist Noble and pianist

Seth Collins

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Seth Collins. This off-the-cuff warm-up has a sense of longing, of looking back and knowing it is an impossible direction; the journey only goes one way and must be accepted.

Noble wrote "Alice's Point Of View" was inspired by one of his New Orleans neighbors known for her positivity, while it nods to the Sammy Fain tune "Alice In Wonderland" (a Bill Evans favorite), written for the 1951 Disney tune of the same name, while the closer, "Theme For A New Age," featuring

Mike Clement

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Clement on guitar, seems to look to the future, in an optimistic mood.

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Track Listing

What Could Have Been; The Push Factor; Acceptance Of The Journey; Farewell To The Kid From Spring; On The Up And Up; Alice's Point Of View; Theme For A New Age.

Personnel

Jake Noble

bass

Autumn Dominguez

saxophone, alto

Seth Collins

piano

Tanner Gus

drums

Mike Clement

guitar

Additional Instrumentation

Mike Clement: guitar (3, 7).

Album information

Title: Letting Go Of A Dream | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Self Produced

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