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Instrumental Memory

by Noah Barker

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  • Digital Album
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

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1.
Daydream 00:53
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Towers 01:15
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9.
Solo 01:48

about

Pianist Noah Barker’s succinct Instrumental Memory begins with a daydream, clear and serene, mellow with curiosity and wonder. An insightful balm, not forcing undue conclusion. “Fortune Teller” is more circumscribed, hesitant…what lies ahead? The answer is simpatico between father and son, junior burning while senior stokes the fire. Enter the klaxon soprano saxophone of Mike Troy, with Coltrane-esque intent. No sheets of sound, a focussed prodding. Noah’s father - AACM legend Thurman - skitters and splashes, somewhat martial and Ed Blackwell-like on the snare. He’s a chamber music composer from time to time, an aesthetic for space and dynamic he shares with his son, who’s pianism commands elegance and poise. There’s the scent of Bill Evans in the equilibrium and intelligence of Barker’s chordal peregrinations, anchored by Dean Torrey’s ostinato bass on “Theme from South Side Suite”; on “Fortune Teller” too.

"Movement on McDonald" is an intro feature for soprano, with swinging bass entering to up the ante. Then Barker père calls into service his straightahead chops and groove-ability, taking the cut out with percussion taxonomy. “Shively” is a bath in slightly murky salts, Barker’s final solo an unprepossessing shimmer, the fleeting reflection of sun in rock pool.

There’s beautiful music here, transparently recorded, that never outstays its welcome - more than a third of the tracks come in under two minutes. Crystalline and considered, yet with the lilt or agitation of genuine spontaneity.

Instrumental Memory will be available from FPE Records in CD or digital formats November 18, 2022.

credits

released November 18, 2022

Noah Barker, piano
Thurman Barker, drums
Dean Torrey, bass
Mike Troy, s. sax

Recorded on 22 September 2019 at East Side Sound in New York, NY
Engineered by Greg Recchia
Mixed by Nick Roeder
Mastered by Huntley Miller

Artwork by Jeff Schlanger musicWitness painted live during a Thurman Barker Quintet concert at the Community Church of New York on 16 October 2015

Design and Layout by Greg Sheppard

This is FPE Records #47, 2022.

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tags

about

Noah Barker Los Angeles, California

jazz spirited

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