With Quartets and Solos (Contagious, 2025), bassist and composer Noah Garabedian appears for the first time on saxophonist Dayna Stephens’ label. As one might expect, Stephens is a vital member of the quartet, wielding his tenor saxophone and EWI. Rounding out the ensemble are pianist Carmen Staaf, drummer Jimmy MacBride, and Samuel Adams on synths, effects, and programming. Adams’ work infuses textures and atmospheres that move the album beyond the typical jazz quartet sound, which, without his touches, would be largely acoustic. The album is a “coming out” party” for Garabedian as a composer, with him penning twelve of the thirteen compositions, with Adams claiming credit for the remaining one. Interestingly, five solo pieces are interspersed with the quartet renderings, with Garabedian tailoring the composition to the strengths of each soloist. While all these players have cut their teeth in New York, the assemblage draws mainly from the relationships formed among the artists while in the Bay Area, with the sole exception of MacBride, who attended Juilliard with Garabedian. 

The album strikes a balance between group dialogue and individual expression. “Fast Slow” features Stephens’ hearty tenor and Staaf’s glistening piano, following a brief electronic solo excursion by Adams on “Welcome Home.” Staaf uses space effectively as her partner in her deliberate solo piece, “The Most Beautiful One.” Adams’s use of effects on “Late Stage Epiphany” serves almost as an electric bass while Garabedian takes a lusty solo on the upright. Stephens’ sustained tenor tones and Staaf’s bright work on keys contribute to this slowly moving, but effective piece. MacBride, with especially stellar cymbal work, gets an assist from Adams in his solo turn, “Snap Pop.” 

Adams’s lone piece, “To Speak Or Sing Softly,” features Staaf hitting chime-like chords over a programmed bass/percussion sound. Meanwhile, Stephens switches to the EWI to make this largely electronic dirge-like piece stand apart from the others. Stephens returns to the tenor for his solo piece, “To Swim Below,” aptly making his sound exceedingly breathy.  “The Mayor of Malibu” – surprisingly excerpted from a live performance, recorded casually on Garabedian’s phone – is a stealthy, mysterious group composition with Stephens on expressive tenor and the leader authoring a steady walking bass line. The brief piano/drum duet interlude “To Remain Alive” follows before we hear Garabedian using both arco and pizzicato techniques on his solo piece, “To Dance Underground.”

Aptly, “The Hawk” creates the sensation of flight through Stephens’s EWI and later his tenor. Adams contributes clever touches while Staaf’s piano plays to a steady rhythm, underpinned by the bass, before she launches into an improvisational flight of her own.  As is the case on many of these tracks, the closer is also reflective. Stephens plays tenderly on the tenor in “Dogwood” to some keyboard effects from Staaf.

Kudos to Garabedian for a rather unique concept of interspersing solos with the group pieces, while keeping us slightly on edge through the use of electronics.  Yet, the album remains mostly ‘in bounds” and makes for a relaxing listen, albeit punctuated with a few surprises.

‘Quartets and Solos’ is out now on Contagious Music. You can buy it on Bandcamp.