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Patch Kit Liner Notes

This past August I was sitting in my living room listening to Noah Baerman play the piano. Noah has been an influence on me, both musically and spiritually, for the last ten years. He and his wife Kate were visiting San Francisco and he asked if he could stop by and borrow my piano for a while to keep himself in shape. As I was listening to him play, I reflected on how fortunate I was to be able to call such a talented artist and generous person my friend.

Noah was born in New Haven, CT, on December 14, 1973. He began piano studies at age eight, around the same time that his frequent injuries led to his being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). "By that point," says Noah, "I was getting stitches every few months from really minor accidents - just the normal falling down and bumping into things that every kid does. My legs were consistently bruised from knee to ankle." In 1992 he entered Rutgers University in New Jersey where he went on to earn Bachelor's and Master's degrees in jazz studies, studying privately for six years with Kenny Barron and working closely with guitarist Ted Dunbar. During this period, he dislocated both shoulders and dealt with tendonitis in both wrists, an EDS-related malady which has been central to his musical life for over ten years now. While at Rutgers, he immersed himself in the jazz scene in and around New York freelancing extensively and co-leading the quartet Positive Rhythmic Force. In 1998, Noah married visual artist Kate Ten Eyck and moved to Middletown, CT. For the next year, he continued to perform primarily in N.Y. and N.J., but a steady worsening of EDS symptoms forced him to curtail his traveling. "It became clear at this point that cutting, bruising and wrist problems were the tip of the iceberg," Noah recalls. "Shoulders, back, knees, hips, ankles - everything hurt. I was having pain from everyday tasks - getting out of a car, standing in line at the bank, carrying groceries. After a weekend of traveling and playing, I'd be a total wreck - it would take days to recover." While already known to friends as something of a health nut, at this point he became much more vigilant about slowing down his body's degeneration, hardly an endeavor compatible with the lifestyle of the itinerant musician.

Nonetheless, he found ways to keep playing and by 2001 he had formed a trio, recording the album "U-Turn" with them the following year. Meanwhile, he became more active as an educator and has achieved some stature and a great deal of praise for his instructional materials. This recording followed on the heels of his eighth published book, the Big Book of Jazz Piano Improvisation.

The primary goal in putting this project together was to raise awareness of EDS and money for the EDNF (Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation). It's difficult enough to deal with any chronic disease, but the general lack of public awareness and understanding of EDS adds a level of social discomfort. Even though thousands of people are affected by it, the medical community still views it as an "obscure" condition, and the level of education and awareness that many doctors have about it are indicative of this perspective. "One of the interesting things about having EDS is that, for the most part, you look 'normal.' While from the standpoint of vanity I am glad that I look pretty normal aside from all the scars on my face and bruises on my legs, it's that much harder for people to relate to it being a real condition. People are often bewildered, for example, when I let Kate carry my heavier equipment after a gig. This phenomenon is particularly worrisome for people with the 'Vascular Type' of EDS, in which things as seemingly innocuous as chest or stomach pains can truly be matters of life-or-death."

Noah's own words best express the second goal of this album: "I wanted to document and present my own playing on a high level while it is still possible. In jazz, most up-and-comers go through an apprenticeship process in which they play with increasingly skilled and famous musicians, gradually refining their craft and gaining wider exposure until they reach another level of respect and skill. The fact is that by the time I got partway through this process, my body was partway through the process of sabotaging the whole thing. I have found some wonderful and satisfying ways to use my skills and knowledge anyway, and I feel blessed to lead the life I do, but that does not change the fact that I wound up in a position where my body simply wasn't resilient enough to handle the obstacles that other musicians deal with as a matter of daily business. So I realized if I wanted to document myself playing with my idols, I couldn't just sit around and wait for the phone to ring - I'm living on 'borrowed time' as it is. Hopefully, I'll have other chances to do this and my body will still be able, making this a steppingstone rather than a last hurrah. But either way, just having this opportunity once has fulfilled one of my life-long goals."

If ever a rhythm section needed no introduction, it is this one. Ben Riley can be heard on such classic albums as Thelonious Monk's "Underground," Sonny Rollins's "the Bridge," Alice Coltrane's "Ptah the El Daoud" and Abdullah Ibrahim's "Water From an Ancient Well." Ron Carter is arguably the most celebrated living jazz bassist. Best known for his tenure in Miles Davis's legendary 60s band, he has recorded over 40 albums under his own name and has appeared as a sideman on an innumerable others with a staggering range of musicians. Additionally, both of these men have had significant musical relationships with Noah's primary mentors, Barron and Dunbar.

Following Ron's advice, the tunes here were recorded in the same order in which you now hear them, telling both the story of coping with EDS and the story of this afternoon in the studio. "Bye Bye Backhand" opens the album. This tune was inspired by Noah's decision to give up tennis (his favorite activity aside from music) for the sake of bodily preservation. EDS sufferers often have to make difficult choices when it comes to physical activities. At the beginning of the session Noah was afraid he would be overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment, "but as soon as Ben started swinging those brushes, I felt completely at ease." "Yasa Fragitida," here a spicy salsa tune reminiscent of the great Eddie Palmieri, is a made-up socially acceptable "swear word," meant to express the in-the-moment frustration and pain that accompanies a new injury and/or accident. Such accidents, unfortunately, are frequent among EDS sufferers. "Everything Happens to Me" follows. This old standard is perhaps the ultimate self-pity tune, reminding us that developing a positive outlook requires experiencing and overcoming the invariable moments of "why me?" Noah's solo ballad playing shows the inevitable influence of Kenny Barron, one of the great ballad players in modern jazz "Limb-itations (Left Hand Blues for Junior)," played entirely with the left hand, addresses those moments when a body part is out of commission and creativity is needed to still perform normal tasks. The subtitle refers to Phineas Newborn, Jr., whose influence on Noah is obvious in the tune. Noah's left hand technique blossomed when he first arrived at college fresh off of wrist surgery and had temporarily lost the use of his right hand. In addition to Newborn, this tune pays homage to the various jazz musicians (such as Horace Parlan, Django Reinhardt, Tom Harrell and others) who have had one sort of "handicap" or another and still managed to overcome their obstacles and create wonderful music.

The title track serves as a transition from the songs of struggle to the songs of hope and perseverance. The "patch kit" refers to the array of things all people, with or without EDS, have to gather together to negotiate obstacles as they come our way. These range from coping mechanisms to supportive people in our lives to knowledge to lifestyle adaptations and so on. "Gradually," says Noah, "I grew to realize that everyone has difficult things to deal with, and we all have to adapt our lives in some form or other to conquer these difficulties. Tuning in to this has made me feel a lot less isolated and has deepened my sense of empathy for others' struggles." "Where's Norm?" is not about finding a person, but searching for the nonexistent center point on the barometer of humanity. Each of us has his/her own quirks, and the realization of that uniqueness is what unites us in our humanity. The opening (and closing) theme of this duet with Ron is reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's free, lyrical melodies. The middle section is a totally free improvisation. "It occurred to me in planning this session that I would be playing with one of the great improvising musicians in jazz history. Whatever the results, I could not pass up the experience of engaging in a freely improvised dialogue with Ron." The results are extraordinary. "The Healer," which was originally written for Noah's sister Alison (who first exposed him to massage therapy, herbal medicine and meditation), also refers more broadly to the people who contribute to our wellness - caring doctors, encouraging friends and family, teachers, mentors and even casual acquaintances with bits of useful wisdom to share. Wisdom is in ample supply in Ron's creative yet subtle bass lines on this tune. In 1996, Noah gave up chocolate for his gastrointestinal well being (unfortunately EDS sufferers often need to alter their diet) and discovered carob as a satisfactory substitute, an example of the human capacity to find alternatives. The song "Carob Powder" uses the harmony from "Cherokee," which was also used by Charlie Parker on his famous "Ko Ko," and this title is a pun on that. Ben displays his ability to be concise yet exciting on this one. Noah claims, "with all due respect to Billy Higgins, I've never seen a drummer who can make a crowd go completely nuts by playing so little." The sentiment in the penultimate tune, "We Shall Overcome," is self-explanatory. Ron takes the melody on this one, because, Noah says, "I felt it needed to be sung, so to speak, and there are few musicians who can 'testify' like Ron can." The album ends with a solo version of Ellington's "I'm Beginning to See the Light." The mood of this tune is sentimentally a good place to end the album - cautious optimism. This piece was not intended to be part of the session. Ben and Ron packed up after "We Shall Overcome," but after the emotional weight of that tune, Noah felt the need to "debrief" by playing one more.

I've often pondered the fairness of life, and the inscrutability of fate, karma, destiny, etc. It seems at least ironic, or perhaps even cruel, that so talented an individual would have to struggle with the handicaps that Noah does. Perhaps, though, those limitations are what drive him to the creative heights that he reaches. He doesn't have the freedom that some of us have to bash on a musical instrument for six hours a day. Playing the piano is a sacred activity to Noah, and that's why listening to him play is so special. If you don't have the good fortune to have him come play a concert in your living room, you can still enjoy this album. I already have, and will continue to for years to come.

Karl Mueller
January 11, 2003