Consider The Stars Beneath Us: Noah Garabedian Speaks
Photo by Stephen McFadden, courtesy of the artist.
by Sarah Thomas
Fresh off his appearance last weekend with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, bassist Noah Garabedian plays The Jazz Gallery this week with his working quartet. Last year, they released an album, Consider The Stars Beneath Us, which you can check out below.
The band will perform music from the record, as well as a series of new compositions. We caught up with Garabedian last week to talk the quartet’s dynamic, fitting in composing around sideman work, and the album’s literary inspiration.
The Jazz Gallery: At the Gallery next week, you’ll be playing tunes from your album that came out last year. Can you tell me a little bit about that album?
Noah Garabedian: The people on the album I’ve known for a long time and collaborated with quite a bit. Dayna Stephens was a teacher of mine. We're both from the Bay Area, and Dayna was a teacher at the first music camp I ever went to. Also, my younger brother plays saxophone, and Dayna was my brother's saxophone teacher. So I've known him for a long time, and it's a treat to play my music with him.
Carmen [Staaf] and I met teaching at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and we've played in a variety of groups together. She's without a doubt one of my favorite pianists I've ever played with. She is incredibly versatile, incredibly open, and technically very gifted. I feel like she's just open to playing anything and can do anything. It's really great playing with her.
Jimmy Macbride I've played with for a long time as well. We've done several tours together with other people's bands. It’s the same thing with Jimmy—he's one of my favorite drummers in New York. He's a very musical person, and he hears harmonically. He plays the drums as if he's hearing them in that way—as if he's playing piano. He really orchestrates the band in a harmonic kind of way, which I love. I feel like I can play any style of music with him, and it would be great.
I had been writing the music for the album for a while. I guess it's sort of a pandemic project. I know people are tired of hearing that stuff, but we did record in June of 2021, so—pandemic. I feel like the songs on the album are all quite different. They all have their own unique character and sound.
One thing I really strive for as a composer that I'm still searching for and working on is that I want the songs to tell a story. A lot of jazz musicians, especially in our community, write music that can just be played at any old rehearsal or any old gig. That's not really the music that I write. I want to rehearse the music, and I want it to have a character to it. I like the idea that my songs are different. I want them to evoke different emotions from the listener, and I want the listener to see an image in their mind, or feel a feeling when they're listening to the music. So that's what I'm going for.
TJG: I read some words you wrote about the album and loved this sentence: “Consider The Stars Beneath Us is a reminder that there are alternatives to our initial reactions; there is more than what is immediately visible.” Could you talk more about this idea?
NG: Absolutely. The title of the album, Consider The Stars Beneath Us, is a phrase I read in a book by an author named Ocean Vuong called On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I love it because it's easy for me and all of us in our community and all over the world to get trapped in thinking certain ways, viewing things in certain ways. This is also a mantra I want to hold in my compositional practice, and in my improvisational practice as well. Remember that there are alternatives. There are other options. Sometimes the most common path is the best path for a reason, but something that's less prescribed can also lead to beauty and discovery.
TJG: Did your quartet get together specifically for this album?
NG: We've all worked together a lot individually, but I brought this band together for the album. Additionally, I had a friend of mine named Sam Adams produce the album. He's an electro-acoustic improviser, and also a new music composer. He's an inspirational guy and an old friend of mine.
He helped out a little bit with my compositional process, but mostly with the post-production, and he was in the studio with us providing feedback and insight. He added some electronic elements, as well as sampling some of the acoustic instruments and reworking them to pop a little more—just adding a little ear candy to the album.
TJG: What is your writing process like these days after the album?
NG: I try my best to write on a frequent basis. It's difficult, especially because I’m usually a side person. Bass players are like the hired gun, or whatever. So it's difficult for me to get a steady compositional practice going. But there's no motivator greater than a deadline, so writing for an album helped.
But I’ll have three new songs on this show that are not on the album. I think we have enough music for two different sets, so we'll be playing completely different music for each set at the Gallery.
TJG: What do you feel the relationship is between these new tunes and the ones on the album?
NG: They are songs that I would have put on the album if they were ready. One of the songs is a swing song, and that's a first for me. It would have been a little strange on the album. But the other two could have easily fit, for sure. There are some free improvisation sections on the new ones, which is part of the album as well.
TJG: Do you have other things coming up you’d like people to be aware of?
NG: I do. My quartet is playing at Smalls on July 6. I'm also a part of a collective trio called Ember with a saxophone player named Caleb Wheeler Curtis, and a drummer named Vincent Sperrazza, and we have an album release show on August 11 at Nublu.
Noah Garabedian plays The Jazz Gallery on Wednesday, May 3 with his quartet. The group features Noah Garabedian on bass; Dayna Stephens on saxophone; Carmen Staaf on piano; and Jimmy Macbride on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. ET. $20 general admission (FREE for members), $30 cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 Livestream (FREE for members). Purchase tickets here.