Jason Moran

He combines post-bop and avant-garde jazz, blues, classical music, stride piano, and hip hop.

Jason Moran studied at Manhattan School of Music and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz and blues. Work by Jason Moran is recorded in the collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art. Distinctions recorded are MacArthur Fellows Program and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Name — Jason Moran • Birthplace — Houston, Texas, U.S. • Born — 21 January 1975 • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Musician, composer • Instrument — Piano • Website — jasonmoran.com

Moran was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in the Pleasantville neighborhood of Houston. His parents, Andy, an investment banker, and Mary, a teacher, encouraged his musical and artistic sensibilities at the Houston Symphony, museums and galleries, and through a relationship with John T. Biggers and a collection of their own. Moran began training at classical piano playing, in Yelena Kurinets' Suzuki method music school, when he was six. However, his father's extensive record collection (around 10,000 in 2004), varied from Motown to classical to avant-garde jazz. As a boy he developed a preference for hip hop music over the piano until, at the age of 13, he first heard the song "′Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk at home, and switched his efforts to jazz. Monk's childlike melodies, with their many silent spaces, struck him as relatively easy to play and not overly ornate, while the rhythms were reminiscent of hip hop songs, and the harmonies unorthodox. Both jazz and hip hop were part of Houston's skateboarding scene in which he was involved. He attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), graduating in 1993 from the jazz program headed by Robert Morgan. In his senior year, he was student director of the school's jazz combo and part of the Texas high school all-state jazz ensemble.

He then enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, from which he would graduate in 1997 with a BM degree, to study with pianist Jaki Byard. The next year he participated in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead exclusive workshop, composing the piece "Make a Decision" for the final concert. In 1997, when Moran was a senior at Manhattan School of Music, he was invited to join the band of saxophonist Greg Osby for a European tour, following a conversation that lingered mostly on older piano jazz, and no audition. Osby liked his playing, and Moran continued to play with Osby's group upon their return to the United States, making his first recorded appearance on Osby's 1997 Blue Note album Further Ado. He would subsequently appear on several other Osby albums, and Osby would introduce him to avant-garde pianists Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill. His stint with Osby led Moran to sign a contract of his own with Blue Note. His debut Soundtrack to Human Motion was released in 1998. Moran was joined on the album by Osby, drummer Eric Harland (a classmate of Moran's at the Manhattan School, and the one who recommended him to Osby), vibraphonist Stefon Harris and acoustic bassist Lonnie Plaxico.

Moran's next album, 2000's Facing Left (after a work by Egon Schiele), featured a trio that formed out of Osby's group, New Directions: Moran, bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits. Compositions were some of Moran's and some by Mateen, Duke Ellington, Björk and Byard. The trio, which came to be known as The Bandwagon, was joined by saxophonist and pianist Sam Rivers for their next album, Black Stars, which appeared in 2001. Black Stars was included in NPR's "The 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade." In 2002, Moran released a solo album, Modernistic, and followed it in 2003 with a live trio album, recorded at New York's Village Vanguard, called The Bandwagon. That same summer he appeared in the Montreal International Jazz Festival, first partnering with Lee Konitz, and then with the trio. In 2004 he played on Don Byron's Ivey-Divey. The Ivey-Divey Trio (sometimes a quartet) toured for a number of years, from the Monterey Jazz Festival 2004 to Montreal's Jazz Festival in 2006 to WinterJazzFest in 2009. Moran's 2005 album Same Mother, an exploration of the blues, brought guitarist Marvin Sewell into the Bandwagon mix. Moran's 2006 release, Artist in Residence, included a number of selections from different works commissioned by museums, all of which premiered in 2005: "Milestone" is centered on a visual work by Adrian Piper from the Walker Art Center; "The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things" was incorporated into a preexisting installation of that name by artist Joan Jonas; and "RAIN", inspired by ring shouts from African American slaves, is a recording of The Bandwagon with guests Marvin Sewell, Ralph Alessi and Abdou Mboup. Critical reception to Artist in Residence has been arguably colder that to his other releases. Moran's IN MY MIND, premiered in 2007, is a multimedia presentation inspired by Thelonious Monk's 1959 "large band" concert at The Town Hall in New York City. It utilises filmed and taped material of Monk's rehearsal, found in the archive of W. Eugene Smith, and video art by David Dempewolf. A text-laden painting from Glenn Ligon extracted the words "In My Mind" - which Monk says on one of Smith's tapes – as did Moran, incorporating the soundbite into the set. The program is played by The Big Bandwagon: the trio with a largely changeable five piece horn section. The New York Times wrote: "It had a magical balance of theory and intuition, and the crowd stayed fully with it." The February 2009 installation is the subject of a documentary film of the same name. In April 2007, Moran took the piano in Charles Lloyd's New Quartet, succeeding Geri Allen. He was the last member to join the group, which keeps touring (as of 2014), having recorded one studio album and two live ones. Moran and Lloyd recorded a duo album, Hagar's Song, in 2013. From September 2009 to about 2012, Moran toured with Dave Holland's Overtone Quartet. "Live: Time" is a 2008 complement to the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition on The Quilts of Gee's Bend. Cane was written for classical wind quintet Imani Winds - among them Moran's college classmate Toyin Spellman. It premiered in October 2008, and appeared in their album Terra Incognita in 2010; it relates to Marie Thérèse Metoyer and Moran's family history in Natchitoches, Louisiana. "Refraction" is a ballet Moran scored and accompanied for Alonzo King LINES Ballet in 2009. Four independent short films and a feature documentary appeared in the 2000s with soundtracks by Moran (see below). In addition, he collaborated with Ligon on 2008's The Death of Tom: an abstract, conceptual, video artwork. Reflecting their shared historical interests, Moran contributed a score based on the song "Nobody" by Bert Williams. The work is in the MoMA collection, but he played to it again in a screening in 2011.

The album Ten, released in 2010, marked a ten-year interval from the Bandwagon's debut, Facing Left. It features "Blue Blocks" off the Philadelphia Museum commission, "RFK in the Land of Apartheid", from an original score to a documentary film of the same name, and "Feedback Pt. 2", an homage to Jimi Hendrix's performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie" was recorded at the IN MY MIND tour. Ten also contains a composition by Moran and Andrew Hill, and others by Leonard Bernstein, Jaki Byard, Conlon Nancarrow and Bert Williams. The Downbeat 2010 critics' poll voted Ten "Jazz Album of the Year", while also voting Moran "Pianist of the Year" and "Jazz Artist of the Year". The New York Times chose Ten among 2010 top 10 pop and jazz albums. Since 2011 Moran has been performing the show "Fats Waller dance party", originally commissioned by Harlem Stage. It became the basis of a 2014 release, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller, dedicated to Fats Waller and the form of popular entertainment that jazz was in his days. Participants in the fluid roster have included singers Meshell Ndegeocello, in a co-leader position, and Lisa E. Harris, drummer Charles Haynes' ensemble with trumpeter Leron Thomas and trombonist Josh Roseman, saxophonist Steve Lehman and bassist Mark Kelly. Moran's composition, "Slang", was commissioned for the 2011 Other Minds Festival in San Francisco. In the May 2012 Whitney Biennial, Alicia Hall Moran and Jason curated BLEED, a week-long event that involved many artists and artisans, and aimed to expose artistic processes to the point "it has to be scary". Later that year a new performance with Joan Jonas, Reanimation was first staged in dOCUMENTA (13). In the summer of 2013 and the next, Moran accompanied, with The Bandwagon and guest Jeff Parker, skateboarding shows in SFJAZZ Center. In April 2014 Moran and Imani Winds premiered Jump Cut Rose, which he wrote for the quintet and a piano, In May, Looks of A Lot, a theatrical co-production with Theaster Gates on the theme of Chicago artistic history premiered in the city's Symphony Center; participants included The Bandwagon, the Kenwood Academy Jazz Band, Ken Vandermark and Katie Ernst, bassist and vocalist. The same month, the Bandwagon played their composition, "The Subtle One", to a ballet adaptation by Ronald K. Brown. In September he appeared twice in the Monterey Jazz Festival: Leading a Fats Waller Dance Party, in a one-piano duo with Robert Glasper, and with Charles Lloyd New Quartet. He was responsible for the music of the multi-nominated 2016 documentary 13th. In 2017, Jason Moran collaborated with the visual artist Julie Mehretu creating MASS (HOWL, eon). Presented as part of the Performa 17 biennial, this work took the audience on an intensive tour of Mehretu's canvas while Moran played his composition accompanied by Graham Haynes on coronet and sound effects, and Jamire Williams on drums. In addition to recordings under his own name, Moran has recorded with a range of other musicians including Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Charles Lloyd, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, Von Freeman, Francisco Mela, and Don Byron. He also performed with Marian McPartland, Lee Konitz, Wayne Shorter (as substitute), Robert Glasper, violinist Jenny Scheinman, The Bad Plus, guitarist Mary Halvorson and trumpeter Ron Miles, drummer Herlin Riley, Dave Holland (Overtone Quartet), and Bill Frisell.

Moran married Alicia Hall, a mezzo-soprano and artistic collaborator, in 2003. They have worked on several projects together. They live in Harlem and have twins. He has an older and a younger brother. Two of his cousins, Tony and Michael Llorens, toured with Albert King playing piano and drums, and were recorded on In Session.

• Recording date — Title — Label — Year released — Notes • 1998–08 — Soundtrack to Human Motion — Blue Note — 1999 — Quintet, with Greg Osby (alto sax, soprano sax), Stefon Harris (vibraphone), Lonnie Plaxico (bass), Eric Harland (drums) • 2000–01 — Facing Left — Blue Note — 2000 — Trio, with Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) • 2001–03 — Black Stars — Blue Note — 2001 — Quartet, with Sam Rivers (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute, piano), Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) • 2002–09 — Modernistic — Blue Note — 2002 — Solo piano • 2002–11 — The Bandwagon — Blue Note — 2003 — Trio, with Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums); in concert • 2004–05 — Same Mother — Blue Note — 2005 — Quartet, with Marvin Sewell (guitar), Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) • 2006–01, 2006–02 — Artist in Residence — Blue Note — 2006 — Some tracks quartet, with Marvin Sewell (guitar), Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums); some tracks quintet, with Joan Jonas (percussion), Alicia Hall Moran (vocals), or Adrian Piper (sampled vocals) added; one track sextet, with Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Abdou M'Boup (percussion) added • 2010? — Ten — Blue Note — 2010 — Most tracks trio, with Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums); one track quintet, with Jonas Moran, Malcolm Moran (vocals) added • 2014? — All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller — Blue Note — 2014 — With Leron Thomas (trumpet, vocals), Josh Roseman (trombone), Steve Lehman (sax), Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), Charles Haynes (drums, vocals), Meshell Ndegeocello and Lisa E. Harris (vocals) • 2016–03 — The Armory Concert — Yes — 2016 — Solo piano; in concert • 2016–10 — Bangs — Yes — 2017 — Trio, with Ron Miles (cornet), Mary Halvorson (guitar) • 2016–11 — Thanksgiving at The Vanguard — Yes — 2017 — Trio, with Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums); in concert • 2017–06 — Mass {Howl, Eon} — Yes — 2017 — With Graham Haynes (cornet, electronics), Jamire Williams (drums) • 2017–06 — Looks of a Lot — Yes — 2018 — With Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), Ken Vandermark (tenor sax, clarinet), Katie Ernst (vocals, bass), Theaster Gates (vocals), Kenwood Academy Jazz Band • 2017–12 — Music for Joan Jonas — Yes — 2018 — [3CD] With Joan Jonas (spoken word, percussion), Jose Luis Blondet (spoken word), Ánde Somby (vocals) • 2021–01 — The Sound Will Tell You — Yes — 2021 — Solo piano • 2018 — Graves / Moran - Live at Big Ears — Yes — 2021 — Duo with Milford Graves • 2022? — From the Dancehall to the Battlefield — Yes — 2023 — With Tarus Mateen (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums), David Adewumi (trumpet), Reginald Cyntje and Chris Bates (trombone), Brian Settles (tenor sax), Logan Richardson (alto sax), Darryl Harper (clarinet), Jose Davila (tuba, helicon) • 2022–05 — Refract — Red Hook — 2023 — Trio, co-led with BlankFor.Ms (electronics, tape loops, processing), Marcus Gilmore (drums) • 2023 — Go to Your North — Yes — 2025 — Jason Moran x Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Ole Morten Vågan • 2025? — Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington — Yes — 2026 — Solo piano • 2024 — Shards — Red Hook — 2026 — Trio, co-led with BlankFor.Ms (electronics, tape loops, processing), Marcus Gilmore (drums)

• Two Three Time (2002) • Five Deep Breaths (2003) • All We Know of Heaven (2004) • Stutter (2007) • RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope (2009) • Selma (2014) • Luanda-Kinshasa (2015) – art video • 13th (2016) • Traveling While Black (2019) • Aggie (2020)

With Ralph Alessi • Cognitive Dissonance (CAM Jazz, 2010) • Baida (ECM, 2013) – rec. 2012 With Steve Coleman and Five Elements • The Sonic Language of Myth – Believing, Learning, Knowing (RCA Victor, 1999) • Weaving Symbolics (Label Bleu, 2006)[2CD] • Another Place (Label Bleu, 2006) – rec. 2004 With Bunky Green • Another Place (Label Bleu, 2006) – rec. 2004 • Apex (Pi Recordings, 2010) With Stefon Harris • A Cloud of Red Dust (Blue Note, 1998) – rec. 1997 • Black Action Figure (Blue Note, 1999) With Charles Lloyd • 2006: Rabo de Nube (ECM, 2007) – live • 2009: Mirror (ECM, 2010) • 2010: Athens Concert (ECM, 2011) – live • 2012: Hagar's Song (ECM, 2013) • 2016: Passin' Thru (Blue Note, 2017) – live • 2024: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (Blue Note, 2024) With Ron Miles • 2016: I am a Man (Enja, 2017) • 2019: Rainbow Sign (Blue Note, 2020) With Greg Osby • Further Ado (Blue Note, 1997) • Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998) – live rec. 1997 • Zero (Blue Note, 1998) • Friendly Fire (Blue Note, 1998) • New Directions (Blue Note, 2000) – live rec. 1999 • Symbols of Light (A Solution) (Blue Note, 2001) • Inner Circle (Blue Note, 2002) With Walter Smith III • III (Criss Cross, 2010) • Three of Us Are from Houston and Reuben Is Not (Blue Note, 2024) With others • Don Byron, Ivey-Divey (Blue Note, 2004) • Scott Colley, Architect of the Silent Moment (CAM Jazz, 2007) • Christian McBride, Live at Tonic (Ropeadope, 2006) – live • Paul Motian, Lost in a Dream with Chris Potter (ECM, 2010) – live • David Murray, Blues for Memo (Doublemoon, 2016) • Eric Revis, Parallax (Clean Feed, 2013) • Jenny Scheinman, Crossing the Field (Koch, 2008) • Otis Taylor, Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs (Telarc, 2009) • Henry Threadgill, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi Recordings, 2016) • Trio 3, Refraction – Breakin' Glass (Intakt, 2013) • Nasheet Waits, Equality (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2009) • Cassandra Wilson, Loverly (Blue Note, 2008)

American jazz pianist and composer. Recorded as having studied at Manhattan School of Music and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Recognition and collections. Moran received MacArthur Fellows Program and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.