Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Noah Preminger Group: Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert

8

Noah Preminger Group: Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert

By

Sign in to view read count
Noah Preminger Group: Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert
Tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger has dedicated considerable effort into his imprint on jazz variations of the delta blues with Some Other Time (Newvelle, 2016), Pivot: Live At The 55 Bar (Self-Produced, 2016) and Meditations on Freedom (Self-Produced, 2017). Zigsaw: Music of Steve Lampert is a departure in concept and content with a single extended track composed by Steve Lampert. With this album, Preminger hits a new peak with the fourteenth album in his prolific career.

Steve Lampert is a trumpeter with five leader recordings and he often composes outside of the tonal system with variations of pitch, and rhythm. Zahskl's Jukebox Volume 1 (Self-Produced, 2015) and it's 2016 sequel, featured Preminger. "Zigsaw"—the sole track on the album—is a near fifty-minute composition that Lampert wrote specifically for Preminger and the group of musicians featured on the album. These top-tier improvisers are frequent collaborator Jason Palmer on trumpet, alto saxophonist John O'Gallagher, pianist Kris Davis, Rob Schwimmer on Haken continuum (a keyless fingerboard synthesizer), and clavinet, bassist Kim Cass and drummer Rudy Royston. With the exception of Schwimmer, all have worked with Preminger in the past.

On its surface, Zigsaw seems to be a different route for Preminger but historically, his scope has been broad, bar the electronic component that figures so prominently on this album. Here, the electronic track was pre-recorded and the group worked around that in the studio. While a single composition, "Zigsaw" has clear divisions. The electronics lend a dreamlike character; some dissections swing, others feature propulsive rhythm-driven improvisations for group or individuals but all are guided by loosely restated idioms.

Zigsaw is spellbinding with its labyrinthine quality. The music builds, breaks down and reforms with different musical elements leading and expressing some variation of the themes. It is powerful and melodic avant-garde music rendered by an incomparable ensemble and it is Preminger's best to date.

Track Listing

Zigsaw.

Personnel

Noah Preminger
saxophone, tenor
John O'Gallagher
saxophone, alto
Kim Cass
bass, acoustic

Rob Schwimmer: haken continuum, clavinet.

Album information

Title: Zigsaw: Music of Steve Lampert | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Self Produced

Comments

Tags


For the Love of 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 create 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.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve 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

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

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