Sebastian Noelle - Electric Guitar
Biography
Guitarist Sebastian Noelle, has been an active member of New York City’s multi-faceted creative music scene since 2002, performing at venues such as 55 Bar, Cornelia Street Café, The Blue Note, Jazz Gallery, Iridium, Merkin Hall, Tea Lounge, The Knitting Factory and the Jazz Standard. He has released two CDs on the European FreshSound-NewTalent label: “Across The River”, feat. Donny McCaslin, Ben Street and Ari Hoenig, and “Koan”, with Loren Stillman, George Colligan, Thomson Kneeland and Tony Moreno. He is exploring new ways in improvisation using microtones, ragas and rhythms from the Middle East.
Sebastian has played at numerous big jazz festivals such as Newport, North Sea, Montreux and Moers, and has toured in the US, Canada, Holland, Germany, Japan and Slovakia.
He is a member of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society (2010 Grammy Nomination, Downbeat rising star poll winner in the big band category), the Aaron Irwin Quintet (featuring Rich Perry), Jeff Fairbanks’ Project Hansori, the world music/minimalism ensemble Anicha, Joe Phillip’s Numinous, the New York Soundpainting Orchestra, ZAHA, the BMI Composer’s Workshop Orchestra, conducted by Jim McNeely, the rock band Rabbits Against Magic and various other NY based groups.
Discography
Leader:
2012 KOAN (FreshSound-NewTalent)
2006 Across The River (FSNT)
2001 Home Is Where The Heart Is (Duo with Gene Bertoncini)
2001 Freedom Trail (with John Abercrombie)
Sideman:
2012 Vicious World – The Music Of Rufus Wainwright
2012 Jeff Fairbanks’ Project Hansori – Mulberry Street (Brooklyn Jazz Underground)
2012 Volker Goetze Big Band – NY 10036
2010 ZAHA – Shoot The Sun (Snapback Records)
2009 Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society – Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam)
2009 Rabbits Against Magic - Daylight
2008 Joe Phillips’ Numinous – Vipassana (Innova)
2007 Bari Hyman – Speak Low
2001 Changes – Jazz Changes (Jazz’n Arts)
Quotes
"Sebastian Noelle’s multihued electric guitar lines provide a forum for capaciously generated modern jazz iterations. The music is comprised of animated choruses, accelerated by brisk bop grooves, multidirectional unison phrasings and more. Noelle chooses his notes wisely, as he digs deep from within to articulate a string of sinuous thematic forays. [...] Noelle’s mode of execution relies on space and depth, where poignancy and a solid group-centric focus attain equal ground, to coincide with the musicians intuitive exchanges." -Glenn Astarita, ejazznews.com
“German-born guitarist Sebastian Noelle is part of a growing group of young musicians who stretch the boundaries of jazz rhythm. […] Noelle is a lyrical improviser who likes to drift in with a melody, dice it up with superimposed rhythms that appear to slow it down or whirl it about faster and faster, and then inch it along as the next soloist enters. […] The album is recommended for its lyricism and impressionism.” -Owen Cordle, News & Observer
"Music that soars, inspires, challenges, and at times even soothes with a comfortable quirkiness. Perhaps because the compositions largely have the same source of inspiration (Japan), the tracks seem to flow as a set of companion themes and glowing variations rather than a playlist showcasing divergent concepts." -Andrea Canter, jazzpolice.com
“The music that makes up Across The River has a delicate, sensual quality, romantic and full of emotions which invite rather than shout, creating an atmosphere in which one wants to spend time. […] His compositions are so strong that they invite vibrant playing, allowing the leader to be able to show how unique his accompaniment can be. When he does solo, he takes center stage by being totally unpredictable, commenting slyly on what the horns have just done. […] Highly original and brimming with inventiveness, Across The River has the power to entice, soothe and seduce the body, while engaging the mind. Recommended.” -Budd Kopman, AllAboutJazz
“Warm, relaxed yet energetic original compositions dominate guitarist Sebastian Noelle's inviting album Across the River . Much of that warmth and relaxation comes from Noelle's fuzzy, rich harmonies and melodies that ring out with slight reverb and distortion. […] By the time the album closes on the soulful, feel-good title track, one looks forward to hearing more from Noelle and his bandmates.” -Brian Lonergan, AllAboutJazz
"Some of the best recorded jazz we've heard lately is on CD from the Spanish company called Fresh Sound-New Talent. Noelle's new Across the River disc provides one such experience. This German-born guitarist, active on the NYC scene since 2002, plays in a style that may remind some of John Scofield's." -Hot House New York
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