Noah Garabedian: Consider the Stars Beneath Us
Outside in Music

Consider the Stars Beneath Us, bassist Noah Garabedian's third solo album as a leader, builds on the acoustic quartet format of its 2020 predecessor Where Fables Meet by enlisting Bay Area-based electro-acoustic composer Samuel Adams as not only producer but sound designer. Yet while he's credited with effects, programming, Moog Minitaur, and Juno JU-06A, his contributions are integrated subtly and function more like subliminal sweetener than anything else. That's a good thing, as his interventions, as effective as they are, don't get in the way of the chemistry shared by Garabedian, tenor/soprano saxophonist Dayna Stephens, pianist Carmen Staaf, and drummer Jimmy Macbride.

The bassist's refined set comes with a dedication to his father, who died early in the pandemic period though not from COVID-19. It did, however, have an impact on the Garabedian family for the fact that circumstances prevented a proper funeral from being conducted and for loved ones to be received at home to work through grief collectively. Yet while the bassist's note on the release's inner sleeve characterizes Consider the Stars Beneath Us as a “body of work that explores my own personal experience with loss,” the music is neither morose nor downtrodden; instead, the tone is life-affirming.

While the new set continues the journey begun with the 2014 sextet album Big Butter and the Egg Men, Consider the Stars Beneath Us changes things up by featuring Stephens in place of the bassist's brother Raffi, the tenor saxophonist on Where Fables Meet. It's the role accorded Adams, however, that might be more significant; by the bassist's own account, much of what he's currently listening to is heavily influenced by electronics, and so releasing a purely acoustic album would misrepresent who he is an artist right now.

Opening the album contemplatively and establishing the recording's sophisticated tone, “RR” pays homage to two of Garabedian's mentors and influences, Ralph Alessi and Ravi Coltrane. In a track that captures the advanced connection between its participants, Stephens emotes strikingly, Staaf and Macbride complement him with colouristic gestures, and the leader forcefully imposes himself with expressive support and a strong unaccompanied solo. Here also we're presented with the painterly role Adams adopts in shadowing the performance with texture. Swinging by comparison is “Expectation. Regret.” for the muscular, mutating groove delivered by the bassist and drummer and high-level contributions from Stephens and Staff. The one composition not by the bassist is Adams's “Pendulum For NG,” whose gyrating patterns are as dizzying as those in “Expectation. Regret.” and which, as per its title, sees the outfit confidently constellating around a single pivot point. As Consider the Stars Beneath Us advances, it becomes clear that it's no tossed-off collection of improvs but instead a meticulously conceived and arranged set of compositions with room for soloing built into them.

In its rambunctious triplet feel, “Salt Point” draws for inspiration from the Gnawa musical tradition of Morocco, with the tune's singing spirit bolstered by soprano sax and piano soloing that rouses and sparkles. The ponderous “Petrichor,” by comparison, showcases the chamber jazz side of the unit during the opening minutes before mutating into a freer expression. In another departure, “Petty Thieves” finds Garabedian ‘stealing' from Claudio Monteverdi and specifically in the way melodies interweave in his madrigals. As intricate as the design of “Petty Thieves” is, the musicians execute it with seeming ease, their performance indicative of the high calibre of musicianship in play. Closing the circle with another tribute is “Alice,” wherein Adams' electronic treatments subtly allude to the harp timbres of Coltrane herself. It's Garabedian calling the others to action first, however, with an unaccompanied bass solo before the tune's spiritual jazz vibe sets in to work its magic.

October 2022