Noam Lemish – There’s beauty enough in being here
Noam Lemish; Sundar Viswanathan; Andrew Downing; Nick Fraser
TPR Records (noamlemish.bandcamp.com/album/theres-beauty-enough-in-being-here-2)
In mid-November 2025, I attended the album release concert for jazz pianist/composer Noam Lemish’s newest project, There’s Beauty Enough in Being Here. The house was full, the energy warm and inviting, the music-making superb and uplifting! While indeed there was beauty enough in being “there” in person, this “gently ravishing” (an irresistible one-sheet quote) CD effortlessly conveys those same elements of warmth, grace and beauty.
A consummate musician on every front – player, composer, accompanist, collaborator, innovator, pedagogue – Lemish continues on his “trademark” multicultural, boundary-expanding, genre-blurring journey with this album. Inspired by the “be in, and appreciate, the moment” sentiment of Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa’s poem titled, Beyond the Bend in the Road, the nine captivating, original tracks incorporate jazz idioms, Middle Eastern sounds, Classical music and Himalayan folk tunes.
Joining Lemish are first call musicians on the Canadian jazz scene: Sundar Viswanathan on saxes and bansuri, bassist Andrew Downing and Nick Fraser, drums. With ease and sensitivity, this all-star quartet delivers the contemplative, mysterious, expansive and hopeful sounds and sensibilities that permeate the album. Aviv (Hebrew for the spring season) is lyrical and moody, with gorgeous overlays between sax and piano. Kadrin Gatshor (Gratitude) is a beautifully melodic homage to the Bhutanese people. About 20 years ago, Lemish wrote It Was There All Along, and recently “rescued” the then untitled piece from languishing in an old, composition notebook. It is lovely. So are the remaining tracks, particularly the stunning, Schumann-inspired The Poignancy of Now.
There’s more than enough beauty here.
