Although bassist Noa Eve grew up in Buffalo, New York, they’ve been living and carving out their musical career in Portland, Oregon. With roots in classical style bass, Noa’s first experiences playing traditional acoustic music occurred while working towards a master’s degree in Music Performance. A self-taught composer, Noa’s approach is a virtuosic array of musical styles ranging from bluegrass to bass concertos. Their debut album, Late Bloomer, recorded under the name NoaBass, gives evidence of the synthesis of their different influences and approaches on the bass.
All but one of the ten tracks are original pieces. The first two selections, Tumbleweed and Moderate, spotlight just Noa and the bass. The former in particular is incredibly enchanting.
Others such as Lazy Sundays and Fast Down are duo collaborations. The former features Noa alongside mandolinist Kaden Hurst while the latter spotlights clawhammer banjoist Cameron DeWhitt. Both tunes capture not only Noa’s creativity from a compositional standpoint, but also with their choices when playing both lead lines and providing a supporting role with whomever they’re playing.
While primarily an instrumental project, there are two vocal tracks to be found on this project, and both carry notable depth and meaning. The title track, Late Bloomer, features Tommy Schulz on guitar and vocals, while The Middle, originally recorded by the rock band Jimmy Eat World, is a full bluegrass band track consisting of Noa on bass and vocals, Hurst on mandolin, Clayton Eiberg on guitar, Lillian Sawyer on fiddle, and Casey Holmberg on banjo. Both songs carry great weight, each with clear nods to Noa’s journey in healing from an abusive childhood.
Boyman also features the bluegrass configuration who performed on the aforementioned track. This particular tune is an excellent example of Noa’s ability to incorporate classical bowing technique into a driving bluegrass context.
NoaBass proves with this debut release just how inventive they are as an instrumentalist and composer. According to Noa, Late Bloomer was recorded after years of preparation. It not only paid off, but it gave us a clear picture of how NoaBass has developed in their artistry.
