Noah Bless New York Strong - Latin Jazz!

Noah Bless
New York Strong - Latin Jazz!
Zoho Music

On the back cover of "New York Strong," Arturo O'Farrill is quoted, "Noah Bless is New York Strong. I've seen him on the finest bandstands representing this great city, in a manner that honors that NYC tradition of purposefulness. He is equally at home in swing, rumba, or samba, but always strong." Trombonist, composer and leader Bless is a 30-year veteran of New York City's rich Latin Jazz scene. Bless, in the words of Bill Milkowski, "has immersed himself in Afro-Cuban music, soaking up mambo and rhumba while getting the clave ingrained into his DNA." He toured with legends such as Mario Bauza, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Santos, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. On this recording, Bless leads a band of Mike Eckroth on piano, Boriz Koslov on bass, Pablo Bencid on drums, and Luisito Quintero on percussion. Alejandro Aviles adds flute to two selections.

Bless is a trombonist who can exhibit a lyrical side as own his "Chasing Normal" or add heat to the surging Afro-Cuban groove of Rudy Calzado's "Ganga." This latter number places the spotlight on Bencid and Quintero. Bencid is on electric piano on the delightful Baden Powell samba, "Canto De Ossanha," with the spotlight on Bless' cashmere wool tone trombone. There is also considerable charm to Bless' interpretation of Jobim's "Ligia," which again shows his melodic side. Bless, in fact, says, "That melodic things always been my strong suit."

Bill Mobley's "49th Street" is transformed from a hard bop composition into a relaxed Afro-Cuban performance with Aviles' flute complementing Bless fluid solo flight over the effervescent groove. Aviles is also present on Bless' original "The Key," a rhythmically charged composition with alternating leisurely and feverish tempos that provides solo space to everyone. An unexpected delight is Bless' arrangement and the group's rendition of James Taylor's well-known folk composition, "Fire and Rain." It is another selection that results in Noah Bless' long-overdue debut as a leader being such a marvelous listening experience.

I received a review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2021 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 394). I have made a couple minor edits. Here is "Sunny Ray" from the album.