Although winter solstice was imminent when Noah Preminger was preparing to record his fourth Criss Cross session last December, diminishing daylight was not the reason for the album’s title. Rather, “Dark Days” reflects the eminent tenor saxophonist’s overall state of mind in 2024. “I was deep in hell,” he says, reflecting on a year when he experienced chronic health issues (since resolved) and a divorce. “It was a dark time.” Throughout the year, Preminger could count on an opportunity “to wash away the dust of everyday life,” as Art Blakey once put it, at his weekly Friday-Saturday engagement at Wally’s Jazz Café in Boston, where he performed and developed the tunes that appear on this kinetic, conversational, virtuosically executed quartet recital. “I’ve led a group at Wally’s since 2021, when they reopened after the pandemic,” Preminger says. “It’s important because so many people go to school in Boston, and it’s a place where everybody can come and hang out and play and develop their thing. It’s been a great outlet for me to play and workshop new material as I write it. And getting to play twice a week is unheard-of.” Line up: Noah Preminger (tenor saxophone) / Kim Cass (bass) / Terreon Gully (drums) / Ely Perlman (piano)