Being Brewed By Noon

“The drummer and composer Sean Noonan approaches postmodern jazz and world music from the same angle of self-discovery: he manages to make his pieces speak coherently, and in a unified voice.” —The New York Times

I won’t come up with complete list of highlights here, as it will force anoth- er 1500 words on you when, honestly, you should be listening. It’s safe to say that tracks like “The Return Of The Peanut Butter Queen” (jazz through a Captain Beefheart filter), “Over-n-Out” (full-on freakout), “Story of Jones” (country, devolving into skronk), “Big Mouth” (funk-a-licious) will have you wondering why Sean Noonan isn’t a household name. – Mark Saleski

If you liked the blend of afro-irish on Stories to Tell by Sean Noonan's Brewed by Noon, you definitely should love the live versions of the The Hub drummers "Noonbrews" on Being Brewed by Noon (Innova Recordings, innova 686, CD + DVD).The CD which was recorded the first half of the year 2007 in NYC, Holland and Slovenia, contains wonderful, often a bit more extended concert versions of "Esspi", "No Strings Attached", "Noonbrews" and "Dr. Sleepytime". In Addition to that there are two, to me yet unfamiliar Noonan-compositions plus "Zaman" by Senegalese bass player Thierno Camara and the Armenian "Karaslama" by guitarist Aram Bajakian, mutated to a celtic song. Mat Maneri plays his viola to that in a very folklorish way. Jamaaladeen Tacuma is the second bassist and Marc Ribot also the second guitarist. The interactive singing of Susan McKeown and Abdoulaye Diabaté, who also plays guitar and percussion, is what makes this project with all its musical allures so special. This is not only stunning, it also simply moves one, how profound the Green Island, the Black Continent and the New York turmoil meet on a multidimensional, multicultural but also astoundingly common denominator of groove, feeling and storytelling. The polyglot guitarists alone, with one mind-blowing statement after another, always embedded in complex, smooth and electro-acoustic rhythmic, leave you in an awe every single time. The DVD visualizes "Pumpkinhead" as a boxing-like Noonan solo and offers, live from Maribor, a never ending version of "Masana Cissé", the story of a 13th century Malian king, whose desire only brought him death, and "Urban (Mbalax)", which infiltrates the seething noise of a metropolis with griot singing. But it is especially the in-depth documentary by Tom Asma that shows why Noonan is a champion, who beats up the cheesy aspects of cross-over and culture mixing so heavily. One yearns to hear the bell. Interviews, rehearsals, bits and pieces of concerts, Brooklyn again and again. Noonan explains what it is that makes griots and bardes so fascinating to him and why he is not made for the ordinary. Bajakian tells about how they met and how he himself is astonished by how big Noonan thinks. However bringing Ribot, Maneri and Tacuma together on a stage would be ingenius by itself. But also letting them play celtic heartbreakers and West African hymns, to do that requires a vision, that Noonan developed after his near fatal car accident in 2003. Diabaté, one of 16 Diabaté-siblings, is of course the one, who comes the longest way to do this. His hymns and Camara's bass that beads all discrepancies, make the midday sun that brings Noonan's brew to boil.

by Rigobert Dittman

A few years ago, I started writing down short descriptions of the bits of my dreams that managed to survive the evening. The moods ranged from pretty darned funny (Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia playing basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers) to somber in the extreme (two scuba divers having an underwater conversation about a third, who was a about to drown). After getting several of these down on paper, it occurred to me that the short vignettes had a lot in common with how I experience lyrics in popular music. That is: I hear them only in fragments. Now, you might think that this ruins the artist's intent, that my model of perception would cause me to miss the point of a song. You might have me there but, in my defense, I do seem to 'get' most songs... over time and by a sort of musical osmosis. Drummer/composer Sean Noonan put together Boxing Dreams as a series of musical dreamscapes, with each tune to be considered its own story. Despite the fact that these tales are delivered via Ireland, Senegal, Mali, and America (with languages Gaelic, Wolof, Bambara, and English), the music helps bring the stories to life — they make sense, even when the language does not. Very much like a dream. With an incredible cast of players that includes Marc Ribot (guitar), Amram Bajakian (guitar, Max MSP), the great Jamaaladeen Tecuma on bass, and leader Noonan on drums, it's safe to say that you've never heard music like this before. The key players here are vocalists Susan McKeown and Abdoulaye Diabate, and Mat Maneri on viola. The vocals curl their way around each other, Maneri's viola acting like an extra voice. Musical dreamscapes? Yes, beginning with the opening title track. Elongated guitar, viola, and bass lines swirl around creating a kind of ambient fog. Things slowly move toward the ominous as the guitar swells, finally erupting into a few huge power chords with even more powerful vocals from Abdoulaye Diabate. That exhilarating climax gives way to the transition into "Courage," where the story is told via Maneri's viola, intertwined with both Diabate's and McKeown's vocals. The searching nature of the tune doesn't prepare the listener for the song's jarring, almost punkish midsection. The surprising new direction really does represent Boxing Dreams in microcosm. I won't come up with complete list of highlights here, as it will force another 1500 words on you when, honestly, you should be listening. It's safe to say that tracks like "The Return Of The Peanut Butter Queen" (jazz through a Captain Beefheart filter), "Over-n-Out" (full-on freakout), "Story of Jones" (country, devolving into skronk), "Big Mouth" (funk-a-licious) will have you wondering why Sean Noonan isn't a household name. That is, if you're not afraid to dream a little. 4 stars out of 5.

by Mark Saleski

GLOBAL RHYTHM

In today’s music industry, overt commercialism and pop paparazzism often run rampant. The world music genre, unfortunately, has also been adversely affected by such P.R. ploys and sonic shenanigans. This is not the case on Sean Noonan's Boxing Dreams. The album reflects the drummer/percussionist/composer’s fervent eclectic interests. Noonan and his mates incorporate elements of heavy rock, West African griot, Celtic melodies, avant-garde, punk, funk and other edgy influences. Prearranged cacophony is often the backbone of many songs, thundered by Noonan’s able drumming and from Aram Bajakian’s and Marc Ribot’s roaring electric guitars. The title track, “Boxing Dreams,” is reminiscent of some of the emboldened, pensive improvisations by the ’72-’75 King Crimson line-up, although Noonan’s tune features African chants. This segues into “Couráge,” a still brooding, yet more upbeat number with Gaelic and African chanting. This is an ambitious project: It may be too “out there” for a few listeners, whereas others will delight in Noonan’s sinewy songwriting.

by Robert Kaye