Review - Noah Bless

New York Strong- Latin Jazz!

Zoho, 2020

8/10

A veteran in the New York jazz and Latin music scene for well over two decades now, Noah Bless has brought his trombone skills to countless occasions, and here he showcases his talent front and center across 8 dynamic tunes where Mike Eckroth, Boris Koslov, Pablo Bencid, Luisito Quintero and Alejandro Aviles are on hand and in fine form.

“Chasing Normal” starts the listen with Bless’ trombone prowess steering playful, warm jazz opener, and “Ganga” follows with a lively rhythm and energetic beats that will get your body moving and keep it in motion to the Latin jazz.

In the middle, “49th Street” recruits frisky percussion from Bencid on the Bill Mobley tune that benefits greatly from Eckoth’s piano acrobatics and Aviles’ flute in the agile, bop friendly setting, while “Ligia” resides in a romantic place with soulful brass from Bless amid a dreamy, ballad landscape.

Near the end, “Fire And Rain” is a soft, gentle display of precise interplay between the quartet, and “Sunny Ray” exits the listen with an abundance of melody in the graceful, timeless finish.

Both an academic in the area of music and with a wealth of experience under his belt, too, Bless has appeared on over 50 albums to date, but I’d be willing to bet that this first time as leader might be his best work to date.