Parents In Jazz: Liam Noble

For more than two decades pianist Liam Noble has been a key figure on the vibrant British Jazz scene, both as a sideman and leader. He has collaborated with musicians including Dave Liebman, Tim Berne, Tom Herbert and Seb Rochford. Liam’s growing reputation as a free improviser has also resulted in performances with Mary Halverson, Evan Parker, and Shabaka Hutchings. He has published four volumes of transcriptions of the Bill Evans Trio, and a book of original compositions “Jazz Piano; An In Depth Look at the Styles of the Masters”, both published by Hal Leonard. Liam lives in London and he has three children, aged five, eighteen, and twenty-one.

UKJazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?

Liam Noble: I think someone once told me that the free time you do have becomes so valuable that you get used to using it wisely. That was before social media came in, when my first daughter (Sylvie, who’s now 21 and a singer herself) was born. It’s true I think: but nowadays, doing it all again, I try and keep a book on the go to stay off the doom scrolling! I often write myself notes about things to do in the future as they occur to me, usually in the middle of cooking or walking to the school pick up. I have ideas strewn around the Notes app on my phone. I have no idea what half of them refer to! In general, I felt like I got things done despite having kids, but it might have been more because I had them!

UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?

LN: “It’s just a phase, they’ll get over it” is something I often try to tell myself, but it appears I’ve forgotten everything about my earlier experience. The meltdowns can be quite distressing if you’re sensitive to loud noises.

UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:

LN: Wherever possible, look after yourself first, your own well being is the most important thing to your kids. That can be pretty difficult to do, and I think it’s probably still true that it’s different for mothers than it is for fathers (and for same sex parents, apparently it’s common for one to assume one or the other role) in that us dads have a little more distance. I don’t find it that difficult to be away from the family, and I also enjoy coming back. But I’m definitely a more attentive father and husband after a few days away playing music, or a day writing stuff or blundering through some Bach. 

I think it’s good advice to both listen and not listen to the advice of other people. Everyone finds their own way, everyone’s kids are both different and all the same. So it’s a question of using your own gut feeling about things whilst not ignoring the odd nugget of wisdom that might come floating by.

UKJN: Best general travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice:

LN: I must say I haven’t had to do this as much as my wife, who often works abroad and has occasionally had to take Lorenzo with her as I’ve been on the road too. Her parents are in Italy and so when she films over there, they will often gladly help out. 

It’s hard to keep one’s cool sometimes. Five year olds often don’t know what they want and drive you crazy with demands that later turn out to be replaced by other, newer conditions. I always feel pleased with myself if I manage to stay level headed in the face of it all, but in all honesty I’ve failed many times! I suspect many people who are artistically inclined find it hard when their thoughts are constantly interrupted but that comes back to the idea of making sure you give yourself space for that. I think being organised helps, marking out little bits of the day where you read or simply just think.

So staying calm, not worrying about what other people around you think (which makes the first bit easier) and, going back to the “top tips”, making time for yourself so you don’t constantly feel robbed of it when you are with your kids.

UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?

LN: I think mothers have the burden of the disadvantage here, but in terms of fatherhood, it would help if kids were tolerated a little better in late night licensed venues. The UK, as most people know, is pretty uptight in this respect. Kids are up all night in Italy and are no trouble at all (mostly!). It’s a reflection of the slightly formal nature of many jazz gigs that kids running around don’t fit in. I can’t imagine Minton’s was like that!

UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?

LN: I remember thinking “I don’t have time to do anything”, what happened to my career, etc. And then when I look back, most of what I’ve achieved as a musician was done after my kids were born. It’s less luxurious in that you can’t pick your time to work on something but, somehow, more gets done.

UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?

LN: My teaching days, and there aren’t many right now, are pretty short so I can drop Lorenzo at school and then pick him up: that gives me about four hours in a day, so I do more days than I’d like for the hours I have. But I have to try and remember that part of my value is as the person who’s around most at home for him. So I work a bit less efficiently than I used to, but it all works fine for now!

And with playing live music, I don’t take my son to gigs simply because everything happens late at night and he gets tired and needs his sleep (and I can’t afford any kind of Road Nanny, if such a thing exists). For now, I try and take whatever gigs I can get, but I won’t travel and stay overnight unless I can justify it financially as we then need to find a childminder to do pickups from school which takes a good chunk of any fee. I would say to those who don’t have kids, do those low paying gigs for musical reasons now, because later on you won’t be able to!

Fatherhood has been a kind of strange fog from the moment it started, but it’s a fog that the boat somehow finds its way through!