jason Moran

APPEARING: BROOKLYN MARATHON @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

Saturday, January 13, 2024

For Soundtrack to Human Motion, jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran's 1999 Blue Note leader debut, the musician balanced an impeccable technique with his love for the jazz tradition and influences drawn from classical, blues, funk, hip-hop, rock, and the art world. Critics immediately signaled his arrival as "the next big thing" and they weren't wrong. Moran has since become one of the most influential and innovative pianists in jazz history. On 2000's Facing Left, he introduced the Bandwagon, his long-standing trio with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, performing a dazzling array of tunes from a wide range of sources. 2002's solo Modernistic explored 20th century rhythmic techniques through readings of boogie woogie, classical, avant-jazz, and funk. 2006's Artist in Residence, with guitarist Marvin Sewell, re-examined emotional and stylistic dimensions in the blues tradition. In 2010, Moran released Ten and won a MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. 2013's All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller began life a few years earlier as a commissioned live theater performance featuring bassist/vocalist/arranger Meshell Ndegeocello as his primary collaborator. In 2014 he composed the score for Ava Duvernay's landmark film Selma. Moran released Looks of a Lot and Music for Joan Jonas in 2018, the latter a recorded collaboration with the performance artist. That year, the touring exhibition Jason Moran opened at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis consolidated much of his interdisciplinary work. In 2021, he recorded Let My People Go, a series of duets with veteran saxophonist Archie Shepp, and the solo outing The Sound Will Tell You.