A Berkeley, California native, bassist
Noah Garabedian
has quietly established himself as a leading player and educator since emerging in the 2010s. His debut, 2014's
Big Butter and the Eggmen
, showcased his playful brass-centric ensemble with trumpeter
Kenny Warren
, while 2019's
New Year
featured his collaborative acoustic trio with saxophonist
Caleb Wheeler Curtis
and drummer
Vinnie Sperrazza
. He has also worked alongside players like
Ravi Coltrane
,
Jeff "Tain" Watts
, and
Ralph Alessi
.
Garabedian
brings all of this experience to bear on his warmly attenuated quartet album, 2022's
Consider the Stars Beneath Us
. Produced by fellow Bay Area instrumentalist
Samuel Adams
(who is also credited with programming, editing, and some "additional recording"), the album finds the bassist leading a striking ensemble featuring saxophonist
Dayna Stephens
, pianist
Carmen Staaf
, and drummer
Jimmy Macbride
. There's a crispness and fidelity to
's music, marked by an almost empathic group interplay. It's an evocative sound that, as on the opening "RR," evokes the transcendent work of
John Coltrane
's classic '60s quartet. Here,
strums his bass with thick, Middle Eastern-inspired lines over which
Stephens
lays down a lilting vocal-like melody against
Staaf
's and
Macbride
's spectral, chime-like piano and percussion. The rest of the album follows suit, moving from the dancerly kineticism of "Salt Point" to the Eastern European folk harmonies of "Petrichor" to the shimmering, off-kilter balladry of "Shackleton's Cocoa." No less enrapturing, "Pendulum for NG" (an
Adams
composition), features a spiraling, multi-note piano riff from
that sounds like a
Philip Glass
piece played in double time. The rest of the band quickly join in, their rich polyphony augmented by subtle synth and electronic accents from
. With
conjures a sound that's airy, textural, and entices you to close your eyes and breathe the music in. ~ Matt Collar