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Liam Noble (musician)

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Liam Noble
Noble with Ingrid Laubrock at Niederstetten, Germany in 2011
Noble with Ingrid Laubrock at Niederstetten, Germany in 2011
Background information
Born (1968-11-15) 15 November 1968 (age 56)
London, UK
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, arranger, educator
InstrumentPiano
Years active1990s–present
Websiteliamnoble.co.uk

Liam Noble (born 15 November 1968) is a British jazz pianist, composer, arranger and educator.

Early life

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Noble was born in London on 15 November 1968.[1] He studied music at the University of Oxford and the postgraduate level at the Guildhall School of Music.[1]

Later life and career

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After his studies, Noble played with saxophonist Stan Sulzmann in duo and quartet performances.[1] He then played in several bands, including those led by Harry Beckett, John Stevens and Anita Wardell.[1] In 1997, Noble joined Bobby Wellins' band.[1] In 2002, he received a commission from Birmingham Jazz to write a song cycle.[1]

Noble's 2004 recording Romance Among the Fishes was a quartet album, with Phil Robson (guitar), Drew Gress (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums).[2] Noble and Robson had often played together, but the four had been put together earlier the same year for an appearance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.[2] Noble's 2009 trio album, Brubeck, was described by the dedicatee, Dave Brubeck, as "an inspiration and a challenge for me to carry on in the avenues that you [Noble] have opened".[3] In 2010, Noble accompanied vocalist Christine Tobin on the album Tapestry Unravelled, a reworking of Carole King's Tapestry from four decades earlier.[4] In 2015, Noble will release the solo piano album A Room Somewhere.[5]

Noble teaches at the Royal Academy of Music,[6] Trinity Laban,[7] the Birmingham Conservatoire[8] and the University of Kent.[9]

Compositions

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Critic John Fordham, writing in 2005, commented that "Noble likes a mixture of staccato, drily witty themes that suggest a collision of Steve Coleman and Django Bates with Wayne Shorter – and with Canadian piano guru Paul Bley in the quieter episodes".[2]

Discography

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An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

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Year recorded Title Label Personnel/Notes
1994 Close Your Eyes FMR Solo piano
2001* In the Meantime Basho Quintet, with Stan Sulzmann (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute), Chris Biscoe (alto sax, soprano sax, alto clarinet), Mick Hutton (bass), Paul Clarvis (drums)
2004 Romance Among the Fishes Basho Quartet, with Phil Robson (guitar), Drew Gress (bass), Tom Rainey (drums)
2006* Let's Call This... Babel Duo, with Ingrid Laubrock (sax)
2009* Brubeck Basho Trio, with Dave Whitford (bass), Dave Wickins (drums)
2010* Tapestry Unravelled Trail Belle Duo, with Christine Tobin (vocals)
2015* A Room Somewhere Basho Solo piano

As sideman

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Year recorded Leader Title Label
1994 Moondog Sax Pax for a Sax Atlantic
1998 Harrison Smith Outside Inside Slam
1998–99 Tim Whitehead Personal Standards Home Made
1999 Trevor Lines The Cats Hide Under the Bed When I Play My Gary Windo Records Wriggly Pig
2000 Arnie Somogyi Cold Cherry Soup Forged
2000 Bobby Wellins The Best Is Yet to Come Jazzizit
2004* Crass Agenda Savage Utopia Exitstencil Sound
2007 Tim Whitehead Too Young to Go Steady Home Made
2007 Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief Intakt
2008* Christine Tobin Secret Life of a Girl Babel
2010 Julian Siegel Urban Theme Park Basho
2010 Ingrid Laubrock The Madness of Crowds Intakt
2011 Ingrid Laubrock Zurich Concert Intakt
2011* Zhenya Strigalev Smiling Organizm Whirlwind
2012* Rachel Musson Tatterdemalion Babel
2013 Alex Garnett Andromeda Whirlwind
2014* Jim Rattigan Triplicity Pavillon

Main source:[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Chilton, John (ed.) (2004) Who's Who of British Jazz (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-8264-7234-2.
  2. ^ a b c Fordham, John (14 October 2005) "Liam Noble, Romance Among the Fishes". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Fordham, John (3 April 2009) "Liam Noble Trio: Brubeck". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (24 June 2010) "Christine Tobin Weaves a New Tapestry". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Liam Noble Solo Album Launch". Vortex. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Liam Noble". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Liam Noble". Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Liam Noble". Birmingham City University. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Liam Noble". University of Kent. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  10. ^ Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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