noahjazz.com - the official Noah Baerman website
NEWS
photo by Kate TenEyck
And the train keeps-a-rolling. That is, much stuff continues to happen.
Starting tomorrow, my Piano Jazz broadcast will be airing nationally on NPR. I'm looking forward to hearing it as much as y'all are!
Soon I will be announcing the official release of my new album, Soul Force - in the meantime, though, it is "unofficially" available through the brand-new Lemel Records Website.
Likewise, I just got official word of the release of my new DVD. It should be in stores soon, and is beginning to pop up at some online stores . . .
I'll be returning to New York this spring with a trio gig at Smith's Bar. Aside from serving as a New York CD Release Party, it will be a fun chance to connect with my friends in NY and, I dare say, a bit of a triumph. A few years ago, when my playing career seemed fundamentally in jeopardy, gigging in NY was out of the question. While I don't expect to start playing there every week, this is a nice symbol that I haven't gone away just yet.
Meanwhile the "usual stuff" keeps on rolling. On the teaching end of things, I'm particularly enjoying Jazz in the Sixties, a course I'm teaching for the first time this semester at Wesleyan. And while winter is always tough on my body, my spirits are high and am enjoying my work and my family - who can ask for much more than that?
Updated 8-11-04
When there's no news on the "news" page, that can mean one of three things:
1) There's no news.
2) There's lots of news, so much, in fact, that it's difficult to keep up with mundane tasks such as updating the news page.
3) Something horrible or tragic has happened.
I'm happy to report that it's "number two." Here are some highlights:
- My new album is out! What It Is is my first live album, recorded on my 30th birthday this past December.
- In early August, I had the pleasure and honor of spending the afternoon with Marian McPartland, during which time we taped an episode of Piano Jazz, which is expected to air in early 2005. Rest assured, updates will follow as more specifics are made available.
I will, responding to popular demand, fill you in on what tunes we played - you'll just have to wait to hear 'em! As a duo, we played "There Is No Greater Love," "Black Orpheus" (a.k.a. "Manha de Carnival"), "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and a free improvisation. Marian entertained me by honoring my requests for solo versions of "Black Is the Color Of My True Love's Hair" and her own "Time and Time Again." And I played two new tunes, "Soul Force" (which I recently composed as a tribute to James Williams) and "Memphis, 1968" (composed primarily by my lovely and talented wife, Kate Ten Eyck), plus "Everything Happens to Me." All in all, a very fun time.
- Patch Kit has been doing very well, garnering airplay nationwide and positive press in such publications as All About Jazz, New York and JazzTimes, with a write-up expected in September's Jazziz. Best of all, it is succeeding in raising money for the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation and awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
- My first educational DVD, a companion to my book Beginning Jazz Keyboard is in the final stages of production and will be in stores by January, 2005, if not sooner. It's like a lesson with me in your own home, except you can rewind and listen over and over.
- This fall, i will be teaching my first-ever online course. Survey of Jazz Styles will be offered online through Charter Oak State College. So if you've ever wanted to learn to appreciate jazz with me, here's a chance to do so, regardless of where you live.
