Yes Noah!

When the mailman arrived today (in the mist and clouds), he left a package containing the new CD by the Noah Baerman Trio as well as the Jazz Times Magazine.

The CD, titled "Bliss", captures pianist Baerman (a Middletown resident), bassist Henry Lugo and drummer Vinnie Sperazza in the studio and at the top of their game. Everybody plays with spirit and fire, with ballad work that melts in your ears and great sound. The music is all original but the package is created from 100% recycled and recyclable material.

You'll get the opportunity to hear the Trio in person on Friday December 12 at 8 p.m. in The Buttonwood Tree. It's the "CD Release Party" and should be a rollicking good time.

When I opened the December issue of Jazz Times to pages 4 and 5, I saw the recipients of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundations's 2008 Jazz Grants. At the top left-hand corner of page 4, there is Noah. He'll be creating a special work for a larger ensemble to be presented in 2009. The other Connecticut group to be honored is New Haven bassist-composer David Chevan and his Afro-Semitic Experience.

Times are hard for creative artists but this news and the new recording is a ray of sunshine in the gray November skies.