Noa Fort, No World Between Us

by Constance Tucker

Noa Fort comes from a lineage of music, the younger sister of pianist Anat Fort, clearly the love of music flows through her family genesis. No World Between Us is Noa Fort’s debut release, but one can’t help but feel the hours of performing, writing and overall maturity of her performances contained within the corners of her compositions.  Comprised of ten original tunes, all written by Fort and a poem by Rumi that is set to music.  The album is chalked full of communally conscience lyrics and poignant takes on every day life.   It was Forts intent to capture the spontaneity of performing live, the record was recorded in a two-day time period with no vocal overdubs adding to the natural chemistry of the cohesive performances.

“Now is Our Time,” begins with an A capella lyric reading, joined by Ronen Itzik on percussion, and Zach Lober on bass. Fort is introspective before pushing into her angelic head voice where her vocal prowess gains even more beauty, reaching into her high register for emotional effect with great result.  This track signals the intensely beautiful journey the listener is about to embark upon.

“Unwritten Signs,” is a rhythmically driven tune with a darkly hued melody, and effective band hits.  On this tune, Fort displays her pianist ideals and colorizations, the ensemble follows willingly through a myriad of effective sections and a story-line of pithy resolve.

On “Just Wait,” guest trumpeter Josh Deutsch makes an appearance, adding a slice of colorization to the melody as each instrumentalist tenderly caresses the spaces, while creating a supportive fabric for Fort to weave upon.  Guest vocalist Tal Gur adds his voice to the backing vocals echoing ‘just wait’ as the group builds the climax of the tune, then releasing to a breathy close.

Fort is not only a powerful emotive vocalist, but an inventive lyricist and composer, her pen is in service of the song itself, and the conveyance of the message.  Her organic honesty flows freely and that is what is most attractive about the many facets of her release.  For her debut offering, this is a lucid start, one I hope to watch blossom for many years to come.  Highly recommended.

Written by