Continuing the legacy of Coltrane, Ayler and Sun Ra, Noah debuted as a leader for the groundbreaking ESP label with Noah Howard Quartet (1966) and At Judson Hall. With his third record, internationally acclaimed Black Ark, together with Arthur Doyle, Noah entered the Jazz hall of fame as one of the most brilliant and innovative Free Jazz musicians.
Disenchanted by the lack of appreciation for musical avant-garde, Noah moved to Paris, France in 1972. Now residing in Brussels, Belgium he has recorded 28 records to date, among them West frm 42nd with Eve Packer (1997), Funk-influenced Dreamtime (2002), and Desert Harmony, featuring Omar Faqir (2007), which Noah describes as “a representation of the magnificent brotherhood of musicians in our world”.

Noah Howard’s joy of life and insatiable curiosity has led him to an extensive journey around the world. He has given concerts and worked with poets, visual artists, composers and musicians in places as diverse as India, the Arab world, Africa and Europe. This characteristic open-mindedness lets Noah constantly re-innovate his style by embracing the cornucopia of the world’s cultures, people and music.

The latest product of this existential experience is truly diverse Voyage (2010). Reflecting Noah’s personality it creates a unique sound universe – Voyage Jazz, a beautiful interplay of world music and free jazz, driven by a never-ending passion for innovation and love for the world’s music and its people.

The Critics

Performed with

Performed on

Performed in

RUIS - November 2007 3-page article on Noah (in Dutch)

JAZZ HOT, November 2003 6-page article on Noah (in French)

DOWN BEAT MAGAZINE-NEW YORK: "One of the Best Alto Saxophonist around"
THE NEW YORK TIMES: "He sounds like a New Orleans reed player, gorgeously lyrical! "
SWING JOURNAL-JAPAN: "One of the most representative Musicians of the post Coltrane era"
A CAPITAL-LISBON: "One of the most representative young black musicians"
CINEFILO: "One of the Big Names of 'Free' "
JAZZ PODIUM STUTTGART: "It would be difficult to go beyond such a beautiful sound"
CODA TORONTO: "Perhaps, this nite some of us have seen the birth of a master"

LE MONDE-PARIS: "Five hours of black contemporary music the Noah Howard Quartet with unforgettable sweetness & fury, lyrically closed the concert (Yves Bourde)"
UNITA-FLORENCE: "To demonstrate, in its complete evolution, the itinerary accomplished by jazz music, from dixieland to pop, Noah Howard continues the invention of jazz style"
MUSICA JAZZ-MILAN: "a peculiar dynamic in the saxophone's hypnotic repetitions, with the result of immediately plunging the listener into the theme, into the atmosphere knowingly created by the artist (Stefano Archilly)"
JAZZ MAGAZINE-PARIS: "as a leader Noah Howard can play his music and have it played ample & simple, his sound is no doubt one of the most exciting that one can hear on alto (Philippe Carle)"

DE MORGEN-BRUSSELS: "Noah Howard's warm deep voice and energetic, lyrical saxophone, brings the audience from Chicago blues to post bop and caribbean tunes"
HET NIEUWSBLAD-BRUSSELS: "Noah Howard's international name is a great honor for our country (A. De Swaen)"
STREEKNIEUWS-GHENT: "The American Noah Howard played funk-jazz at its best at the 'Ter Halle' and many others"
DALLAS EVENING NEWS: "Black American musicians find harmony in Paris."

Reviewed on Othermusic.com:

Noah Howard & Bobby Kapp
NOAH HOWARD and BOBBY KAPP "Between Two Eternities" (Cadence) CD $13.99 RealAudio: http://userweb.interactive.net/~tomc/Howard.ram As an alto master, Noah Howard is a player without living peer. In fact, even his dead peers could learn a thing or two about taste and restraint within the avant-garde context. The duet setting with drummer Kapp affords an intimate glimpse into what has kept him at the top of his profession for nearly 40 years. Deft and melodic, poised and balanced, his sinuous lines negotiate an expressway to your skull and an autobahn to your soul. Where lesser talents might be tempted to overplay, Howard holds back; but when he picks his openings, Kapp with him stride for stride, he has burn to spare! Following closely on the heels of his recently reissued 1971 masterpiece "Patterns", "Between Two Eternities", recorded in 1999, documents an artist who has yet to lose a step. 65 minutes. [JG] http://www.othermusic.com