Photo: Courtesy of Nick Zoulek.

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The award-winning, Chicago-based saxophone quartet ~Nois will release its debut album titled Is This Nois on June 26, 2020. The album features the music of composers who have strong ties to Chicago and Northwestern University, the quartet’s alma mater. Produced by Nois and the Grammy Award-winning Dan Nichols, the album will be available for purchase through the quartet’s website, Bandcamp, and will also be streamable on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and others.

The album features existing pieces by Hans Thomalla, professor of composition at Northwestern, as well as Marcos Balter and David Reminick, graduates of the composition department. […]

In addition to these existing works, Nois commissioned friends whom they met while in graduate school for new works that would stretch the limits of the saxophone quartet. Craig David Pinson’s Dismantle treats the quartet, this time composed of four alto saxophones, like a percussion quartet. The piece is an exciting tour of the many different percussive sounds of the saxophone and the joy of cross rhythms.

Niki Harlafti’s Vaisseau Fantôme uses 7 saxophones between the four members and takes its inspiration from a portion of Ornette Coleman’s album Free Jazz. Bits of Coleman’s theme are passed around the group until it explodes in a fugual climax. […]

Mathew Arrellin’s Apertures flips the traditional roles of the group on their heads. The piece often sees each member of the quartet singing in the stratosphere of their range while the soprano might hold down the bass. These sinuous melodies are juxtaposed against the raw power of violent multiphonic sounds. […]