A Special Evening (11/13)

I've watched and listened to pianist/composer Noah Baerman grow as a musician, teacher and person for well over a decade. All that time, he has worked with a physical ailment (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) that has threatened his career as a "player" but has sharpened his skills as a writer and performer.

Jazz can be and often is a jumble of sounds but there is usually a clarity to what Baerman creates with his trio. Bassist Henry Lugo is rock-solid, melodic to be sure but also the foundation for the composer's musical explorations. Drummer Vinnie Sperazza can be loud, even noisy at times, but he also gives the music its propulsion and forward motion. In that whirlwind, the pianist weaves soulful melodies with lucid and often heady solos. The ensemble's ballads can be contemplative, light in feeling yet with touching emotional weight.

In 2008, Noah Baerman received a grant from Chamber Works America (administered by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation) - he proposed to write a full-length musical work for an expanded ensemble and the premiere of the composition, "Know Thyself", takes place this Friday at 8 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall. The musical aggregation of the Crowell stage will include Lugo and Sperrazza as well as long-time friends Wayne Escoffery (saxophones) and Amanda Monaco (guitar) - the friends played together in their high school years while attending New Haven's Educational Center for the Arts and have recently released a CD titled "Playdate". West Hartford native Erica von Kleist, a graduate of the famed Hall High School Jazz program and the Juilliard School, will add her tenor saxophone sounds to the band and vibraphonist Chris Dingman (Wesleyan 2002) adds a strong melodic and percussive voice to the work.

As for Baerman's new work, Monaco tells me it's "fun to play and very musical", with the pianist's many influences blending together in new and surprising ways. Highly personal yet universal in its quest for self understanding, I anticipate (and hope) that "Know Thyself" will find Noah Baerman a wider audience for his musical visions, an audience excited to grow along with the music.

For ticket information, call the University Box Office at 860-685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.