about
Sean Noonan
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Dirk Eusterbrock

NEW PROJECTS TO ANNOUNCE:

Man No Longer Me: American storytelling roots album with Alex Marcelo (Yusef Lateef) and Bavarian special guests

A Gambler's Hand: music for string quartets and drum set

Bruised by Noon: solo drum album and book release

"Bruises, a torn eyebrow and blood dripping from your nose: that's what you are left with once drummer Sean Noonan is finished with you. It feels wonderful. The New Yorker, posing in a ring with robe and gloves on is a charming exciting type .... he relentlessly knocked out both the audience and his band members." de Volkskrant (NL)

In 1999 Sean Noonan first emerged as the drummer of The HUB becoming a part of the next generation of cutting edge music from the Brooklyn underground. Since the birth of Brewed by Noon, Noonan has created original musical concepts from Afro-Celtic Punk-Jazz to composing downtown avant-garde chamber music and improvising off stories from the drum set, in the fashion of an "Irish griot.

Noonan's newest Brewed by Noon concoction features Alex Marcelo, known as the pianist for Yusef Lateef. This new duo can be best be described as a fermentation of American Folklore, Jazz/Rock, Funk/Punk and R&B, or if Cecil Taylor and Samuel Beckett were out on a night of romance and in quest of a good bar fight. Noonan has produced over 17 albums in his diverse projects that travel from New York and beyond featuring artists such as Marc Ribot, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Mat Maneri, Abdoulaye Diabate, Jason Hwang, Susan McKeown, Kirk Knuffke, and the Momenta Quartet to name a few.


Nate Chinen, New York Times - "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."


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Dirk Eusterbrock

The latest album release A Gambler’s Hand (Fall 2012), a suite for amplified string quartet and drum kit/percussion, combines the aesthetics of downtown jazz/rock, improv and comprovisation with composition inspired by American experimentalists such as Cowell, Nancarrow and Zorn. The music represents an original story by Noonan, an absurd, dreamlike tale of an Irish gambler who one day finds himself trapped inside a wall. Noonan sometimes narrates parts of the story between movements.

"Menacingly surreal, often assaultive, a feast for fans of dark, challenging music. It’s a category unto itself – and one of the best albums of 2012 in any style of music." - Lucid Culture

Read the whole A Gambler's Hand interview on songlines.com

 



For more videos see Brewed by Noon on Youtube


“…it’s safe to say that you’ve never heard music like this before…will have you wondering why Sean Noonan isn’t a household name.” – Mark Saleski, Blogcritics.org

"A Gambler's Hand signals a bold new front for Sean noonan. What we hadn't really heard is a string quartet led by a drummer, and especially an unconventional drummer as Noonan. It's like nothing else our there." Something Else Reviews

"An imaginative and ingenious work that is also quite brave: Noonan goes right into the roots of loneliness and compulsion, the walls that we all get trapped in and the ways we try to express ourselves from within those flat, suffocating spaces" All About Jazz - FLORENCE WETZEL


For more videos see Listen to New Album/Project-A Gambler's Hand


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Dirk Eusterbrock

Sean Noonan Drum Set Sensation Extended Bio:

Brewed by Noon - "Tribal rhythms by an Irish griot" is how Brewed By Noon leader/percussionist Sean Noonan describes the band. "Griot" describes a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. Combining progressive jazz (Weather Report and Miles Davis [Bitches Brew era]), African tribal rhythms and stories (Fela Kuti and Paul Simon's Graceland) mixed with some Irish lyrics and attitude and you have the basis for Brewed By Noon.

Born in Brockton, Massachusetts and a Berklee College graduate, Noonan is a longtime veteran of both aforementioned musical styles. He has played with both Aram Bajakian in Chips and with the jazz-punk trio, THE HUB. After recovering from a near-fatal car wreck in Italy during 2003, Noonan decided his next project would combine his two musical loves of Jazz and African rhythms.

 

Sean Picture


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By the summer of 2004, Brewed by Noon was born. Joining Noonan was bassist/vocalist Thierno Camara, and guitarists Aram Bajakian and Jon Madof, who recorded the groups debut self-titled album during this period.
The group's rich and exotic sound was so well received that a second album was soon planned. Titled 'N.Y.' it features a far more expansive supporting cast. Joining Noonan, Camara, Bajakian, and Madof in the studio for the second go-round were guitarist Marc Ribot, violist Mat Maneri, percussionist Jim Pugliese, and singers Susan McKeown, Abdoulaye Diabate, and Dawn Padmore.
As a transplant New Yorker (he relocated there in 1999), Noonan explains exactly why he chose the album title. "The album is called 'N.Y.' after one of the tracks which takes the listener on a emotional roller coaster - what one might see, feel or hear on a daily basis living in New York. Also, New York is symbolic since it is where I met all these musicians.

 

Sean Picture


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The album reflects a diverse melting pot of artists from around theworld - Ireland, Mali, Senegal, Liberia and Armenia." Noonan explains "Essentially, I produced the album, but Thierno Camara was heavily involved and would consult with me. Our goal was to get maximum potential out of each artist. I do consider [that] I did all the hard leg work by obtaining a commission from the American Composers Forum, conceived the compositions, directed the rehearsals, chose and consulted with the musicians and finally decided the arrangements. An important thing that I learned was to be decisive and be able to direct and coach people but not force ideas on them. I told everyone to 'just let the music come out - don't look back'. Also, I'd tell them 'we are going to be taking a lot of musical pictures,' and then decided what works and orchestrated it."

It turns out that the tracks 'Esspi' and 'Pineapple' are amongst Noonan's favorites on 'N.Y.' with each having a specific lyrical meaning. "'Esspi' is about a baby elephant that leaves his mother and wanders into the forest getting lost. [Singer] Abdoulaye Diabate asks why the baby left his mother without saying goodbye. 'Pineapple' is a love song that is about two people who just meet each other. It's kind of sexy and romantic." With two albums now under their belt, Brewed by Noon appears to be gaining momentum. Noonan agrees "I really want to keep exploring my concept of 'brewing' people, original ideas/concepts and cultures, since I believe it is my mission. I've become very attached to the people I work with. Sometimes I dream about them and have visualizations of what they will do with my music. This record is just a platform presenting many different themes and formulas. I want to dedicate a record to each theme and to tell stories with my music. To learn more about my Gaelic roots and brew it with West African music and improvisation. I also want to explore and create new dimensions to my electro-acoustic drum set and utilize electronics in a way that compliments but challenges my approach to the drums."

Truly a heady brew indeed.


Brewed By Noon: European Stories To Tell
2007 Documentary uploaded by rvonoise


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Colour
Photo Credits:
Dirk Eusterbrock
UPCOMING EVENTS

APRIL
Just returned from Tour,check out latest articles, new music links and new events which are updated periodically.

June 4 Live @ Bowery Electric, NYC Brewed by Marcelo,Mooney,Tacuma, Bajakian!

N.Y. Bavarian Trio Tour Spring 2013

FEB 2
Jazz e.V., Dachau Kultur-Schranne Dachauer Kultur-Schranne Dachau, DE
FEB 3
Ali-Raven   Straubing, DE
FEB 4
jazz abensberg    Abensberg, DE
FEB 8
Zum Haber, Osterhofen, DE
FEB 9
Trix Antwerpen, BE
FEB 11
Le Chaf Brussels BE
FEB 13
Liega Boat, Liege BE
FEB 14
Dusseldorf, DE
FEB 15
Café Bohne Ilmenau, DE
FEB 16
Sturmglocke hannover, DE  
FEB 28
Domicil Dortmund, DE
MARCH 1
ebene 3 Heilbronn, DE
MARCH 2
Jazzclub Hirsch, Moosburg, DE Moosburg, DE
MARCH 3
Kinocafe, Taufkirchen, DE
MARCH 7
kv roeda styr, austria
MARCH 8
Förderverein "das Haus" e.V. Ludwigshafen, DE
MARCH 9
Immerhin Würzburg, DE
MARCH 19
the bridge newcastle, UK

Promoters inquire about availability since tour period might be or could be changed if interested in a certain date.

Recent News:

June 2012

New album coming out this summer, A Gambler's Hand music for strings and percussion!

Aug 14, new project with Alex Marcelo at the Stone

Sept 24 CD/release and Premiere at the Roulette in Brooklyn on.


October 2012 Next Tour with Alex Marcelo extraordinary pianist from Yusef Lateef and Malcolm Mooney (CAN), performing in promotion of our new live DVD Bright world which I go


Now is the conclusion of Spring 2012 Tour! Travelled thousands of kilometers and met countless people and thanks all of you for your support!

Silent Film of "A Gambler's Hand" has been filmed in Poland! Next is the mixing of "Bruised by Noon" solo drum album

PRESS QUOTES

"This is not the typical release but an experience. A dynamic and virtually flawless execution of art at an apex of creativity few can match." Brent Black @CriticalJazz


"You think this might be boring? C’mon man, relax, this is Sean Noonan…it’s like nothing else out there." Something Else!S. Victor Aaron


"Noonan strikes again conducting a string quartet with his drumsticks…like Bela Bartok french kissing with John Zorn. I wonder when the man finally will get some serious recognition in Culture loving Flanders?" Rifraf (BE)-Bootsie


"Sean Noonan is never boring…this is starkly original music that is different from Noonan’s previous starkly original music." Britt Robson-JazzTimes


"Menacingly surreal, often assaultive, a feast for fans of dark, challenging music…it’s a category unto itself – and one of the best albums of 2012 in any style of music. Scary Stuff from Sean Noonan." Lucid Culture


"Sean Noonan's A Gambler's Hand is a further step forward in his evolving blend of music and narrative." - All About Jazz


"The drummer is a musical terrorist at heart…well-conceived and expertly arranged and performed pieces that reveal not merely an inner logic, but an external one as well. " Thom Jurek-allmusic


"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

" ....he succeeds at bridging the gap during the preponderance of these fascinating arrangements, constructed upon a multicultural array of cadences. Here, jazz vernaculars and birthrights are fused into a bold and beautiful chain of musical events, often enamored with vigor and finesse." www.ejazznews.com

"Stories to Tell," the new album by drummer Sean Noon's group Brewed by Noon, is a funky feast of music .....bursting with talented musicians and interesting sounds ...." All About Jazz New York

"Drummer Noonan's notion of conflating 'bardic and griot traditions' has juice. The Celtic tunes and African grooves retain their singularity, even when surrounded by flashes of fusion." The Village Voice

" ...a record that very much pursues Noonan's vision, complex and twisted as it is, and there can be beauty in the chaos ....it's a record that demands attention from your ears and brain, one that falls outside any definition - which is a good thing." All Music Guide

"If you're in the mood for a far-reaching sonic smorgasbord, here's your ticket." New Music Box

"A mind-bendingly diverse blend of West African song forms, Gaelic folk melodies, urban funk rhythms, blazing electric guitars and raucous Downtown free jazz Noonan's eponymous ensemble is as multifaceted as post-moderism gets ....a compelling listen." www.allaboutjazz.com

"A high watermark for contemporary progressive jazz" www.midwestrecord.com

" ...clever, tuneful and celebratory - and more often than not, it just plain rocks." Time Out New York

READ FULL REVIEWS HERE
Presskit