Steve Noble

One day in the late 80s or early 90s, I was woken by a familiar Southern voice and an unfamiliar English voice, while in the small guestroom/storage-space at a friend's apartment on E. 13th Street in NY. The voices belonged to Davey Williams, the great guitarist from Alabama, and Steve Noble from England. I got up, said Good Morning, and I think I babbled something nonsensical to Noble about how impressed I was with the sound of his bass drum at the gig I had seen him at the night before (don't remember who else was playing...). That may have been the same trip where I was leaving the apartment and the NYPD grabbed me, threw me down on the floor, and put a gun to my head, etc. (Upon further reflection, I think I was on my way out to see Noble play with Ernst Reijseger at the old Knitting Factory when New York's Finest decided that I was a Public Enemy...)



Steve Noble Quartet @ the Vortex, London, 05/19/10.
Steve Noble with Orphy Robinson (e-vibes), Jason Yarde (Sax), John Edwards (Bass)
Shot by Shuffleboil

At this point I would like to comment on the unit on Jason Yarde's scalp; it looks like a brilliant synthesis of the singer from Stump, and Sonny Rollins when he sported a mohawk...

Further research reveals that Noble and Williams recorded two albums with the tuba player Oren Marshall...

Say What! with Steve Noble, Oren Marshall, 1992
Transmutating with Steve Noble, Oren Marshall, 1993