What's so good about Jason Moran?

In preparing for this instalment of the Artistic Director's Guide to Jazz, I referred to a blog posting I wrote a few years back in which I mention Jason Moran. Here's what I wrote:

…I was working away in my office while listening to the most recent album by Jason Moran…The album is fantastic. And I'll be totally honest, I didn't always understand what was going on melodically, harmonically or rhythmically. But it totally didn't matter. Within this very contemporary approach, Jason and his bandmates…create a fantastic arc to each tune, create some beautiful melodies, and produce some of the most exciting musical moments (i.e. wanting to jump out of my chair and cheer moments) I've heard on disc.

Since then, he's been hired as the Artistic Advisor for Jazz at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, where he strives to challenge current audiences and bring new audiences to jazz (and vice versa). Here's a sample of Jason's mastery of the piano:

I feel that this video captures what makes Jason such an exciting player. He's playing a tune written in the 1930's and simultaneously giving it a classic and a contemporary treatment. One minute he's playing stride a la Fats Waller; and then at places like 2:05 his contemporary side comes out…only to slip back into the stride treatment.

This push and pull - between representing the traditional form of jazz while creating music which pushes the form forward - has always been a part of Jason's playing. He has fond memories of being encouraged by Betty Carter, during her 1998 Jazz Ahead residency program at the Kennedy Center, to "make new things." For Moran, Thelonius Monk was a huge influence in part because of how Thelonius was also able to balance the tradition with forward thinking. As Moran says: "The way Thelonious Monk does it, it's about two things: It's about being really simple and really complicated. Monk has those songs which are very simple phrases. And then he'll have something like "Trinkle Tinkle" It's bizarre." Here's something which is definitely more on the contemporary end of things, along with some insight into Jason's take on creating melodies (choose the "infospace" video):

For his performance at the 2013 TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Jason brings a project called the Fats Waller Dance Party featuring Meshell Ndegeocello. With the Dance Party, he's taking the dance music of Fats Waller and putting his own spin on things…while prioritizing the dance aspect of the music. His goals seem to be twofold - on one hand, he's paying homage to a musician whose playing got people dancing at rent parties and millionaires' mansions alike; on the other hand, he seems to be making a concerted effort to get jazz fans back onto the dance floor. In an interview with NPR, he said:

"You know, the '20s [and] '30s, people dancing to music wasn't seen as bizarre or crazy. Now, if I play some Fats Waller music in a gig and someone starts dancing, they're the freak. I thought Fats Waller could serve as the perfect vehicle to engage with an audience."

Here's a taste of what we can expect from his upcoming Toronto visit:

Jason Moran's Fats Waller Dance Party featuring Meshell Ndegeocello takes over the Horseshoe Tavern on Wednesday, June 26 at 10 pm (doors at 9 pm). Buy tickets now or, for more information, visit the concert page.

Josh

P.S. - The music is sure to be great…but Jason's got an incredible Fats Waller mask he'll wear on occasion which on its own is worth the price of admission…