Dark Days

Although winter solstice was imminent when Noah Preminger was preparing to record his fourth Criss Cross session last December, diminishing daylight was not the reason for the album's title. Rather, "Dark Days" reflects the eminent tenor saxophonist's overall state of mind in 2024. "I was deep in hell," he says, reflecting on a year when he experienced chronic health issues (since resolved) and a divorce. "It was a dark time."

Throughout the year, Preminger could count on an opportunity "to wash away the dust of everyday life", as Art Blakey once put it, at his weekly Friday-Saturday engagement at Wally's Jazz Cafe in Boston, where he performed and developed the tunes that appear on this kinetic, conversational, virtuosically executed quartet recital. "I've led a group at Wally's since 2021, when they reopened after the pandemic," Preminger says. "It's important because so many people go to school in Boston, and it's a place where everybody can come and hang out and play and develop their thing. It's been a great outlet for me to play and workshop new material as I write it. And getting to play twice a week is unheard-of."

The album was recorded December 14, 2024 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio N.Y. Recording engineer: Mike Marciano. Editing, mixing and mastering by Mike Marciano at Systems Two N.Y. Produced by Jerry Teekens. Photography by Masha Vesset

Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone
Kim Cass: bass
Terreon Gully: drums
Ely Perlman: piano

1: Hummus
2: Hymn #1
3: Mopti
4: Casa Pueblo
5: FTSC
6: Nash's World
7: Sarajevo With Neira
8: Dark Days
9: Barca

Number of Discs: 1

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