Come listen to Jason Moran chat about what’s going on and his music. Most recently this last May Jason along with Meshell Ndegeocello performed the Fats Waller Dance Party in Manhattan at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse. Previously he brought back the music of Thelonius Monk in his piece In My Mind: Monk at Townhall 1959. This work is part of the reason why he was awarded the prestigious McArthur Fellowship in 2010.
From his web site bio:
Since his formidable emergence on the music scene in the late 90s, jazz pianist Jason Moran has proven more than his brilliance as a performer. The Blue Note Records recording artist has established himself as a risk-taker and innovator of new directions for jazz as a whole.
In almost every category that matters – improvisation, composition, group concept, repertoire, technique and experimentation – Moran, and his group The Bandwagon – with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits – have challenged the status quo, and earned the reputation as “the future of jazz.”
Moran’s debut recording as a leader, Soundtrack to Human Motion, was released in 1999 to great critical praise. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times named it the best album of the year and the Jazz Journalists Association awarded it “Best Debut Recording.” The following year, Facing Left, established The Bandwagon trio with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, and prompted JazzTimes Magazine to declare the album “an instant classic.” Moran augmented the trio for his third Blue Note release, Black Stars, adding avant-garde icon Sam Rivers, who plays saxophone, flute and piano on the recording. Gary Giddins of the Village Voice exclaimed, “Black Stars is possibly a Blue Note benchmark, definitely one of 2000’s outstanding discs.”
Currently he is touring with the Charles Lloyd Quartet through Europe. Check out his concert dates and his music at his web site
http://jasonmoran.com/index.html