
Noam Lemish
Twelve
Personnel
Noam Lemish: piano, compositions, and arrangements Terry Promane: musical director Laura Swankey: voice Allison Au: alto saxophone Mike Murley: tenor and soprano saxophones Kelly Jefferson: tenor and soprano saxophones Kevin Turcotte: trumpet Jim Lewis: trumpet William Carn: trombone Karl Silveira: trombone Ted Quinlan: guitar Michael Davidson: vibraphone Justin Gray: bass Derek Gray: drums
Noam Lemish is a Toronto-based pianist-composer whose music often defies categorization. In Twelve he leads a formidable jazz 12tet presenting a captivating set of six original compositions. This chamber-sized jazz orchestra – a nimble, yet powerful ensemble – features a stellar cast that includes many of Canada’s most prominent jazz artists, including multiple JUNO award winners. Growing up “in-between” cultures and places, having lived for extended periods in Israel, the United States and now Canada, Lemish’s music fuses an array of disparate influences and traditions. In Twelve, Lemish and his orchestra distill this integrated, transcultural musical life into a compelling, poignant, and joyful artistic statement.
Lemish’s distinct and innovative voice as a composer permeates every facet of this recording. The six pieces that comprise Twelve stretch the conventional boundaries of the jazz idiom in more ways than one. Pushing jazz structures in new directions, the works showcase inventive, long-form, through-composed music that seamlessly integrates soaring melodies, exquisite large ensemble writing and orchestration with stunning improvised solos. Owing to Lemish’s multi-cultural upbringing and life experiences, the compositions also reveal a musical vision that embraces genre-bending as an essential feature. Lemish’s writing effortlessly blends his rootedness in jazz and western art music with the musical influences of his Israeli childhood and Eastern-European Jewish heritage.
noamlemish.com
tprrecords.ca
Release Date: Friday, October 21st 2022 on TPR Records.