Jason Moran

SFJAZZ had approached Moran last year about recreating Monk’s famous 1959 Town Hall concert for a performance in May 2007. Moran conceived of a larger conceptual project that would reflect upon the man himself, his history and his creative process. “It’s much larger than a tribute project,” he told the Boston Globe. “Monk is the reason I started playing piano. I owe him all the investigation I can do.” So Moran spent time in Duke University’s extensive Monk archive and visited Monk’s birthplace in the nearby town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The performance includes an octet performance with video projections plus sound clips of Monk rehearsing his band for the now-legendary Town Hall performance.

Jason Moran was born January 21, 1975 in Houston, Texas. He attended Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where he became an active member of the jazz program, playing in the big band and leading a jazz quartet. He moved to New York City where he continued his education at the Manhattan School of Music, a school to which he was drawn by the prospect of studying with the pianist Jaki Byard, who became Moran’s teacher for 4 years and a role model for life. It was during this time that Moran also took lessons from other forward-thinking pianists such as Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill, creative musicians who imparted a profound influence on Moran, and encouraged him to find his own distinct voice.

In 1997, while Moran was still a senior in college, the drummer Eric Harland, a high school classmate of Moran’s, recommended him to saxophonist Greg Osby who was in the process of assembling a band for a European tour. Osby hired Moran based solely on Harland’s description of his playing, and the match proved to be auspicious. The connection between Osby and Moran was present as soon as they hit the bandstand, and Moran has become a fixture in Osby’s touring and recording bands ever since. Moran made his professional recording debut on Osby’s 1997 Blue Note CD, Further Ado.

Moran’s debut recording as a leader, Soundtrack to Human Motion, which found him in the company of Osby, Harland, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and bassist Lonnie Plaxico, was released in 1999 to great critical praise (Ben Ratliff of The New York Times named it the best album of the year). The following year’s Facing Left found Moran stripping down to a 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 the year’s outstanding discs.” He was named Playboy Magazine’s first “Jazz Artist of the Year.” He has also received honors in numerous DownBeat Critics Poll “Rising Star” categories, including “Jazz Artist,” “Pianist,” and “Composer.”

Moran has performed as a sideman with such artists as Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane and Stefon Harris. He was the youngest honoree of the San Francisco Jazz Festival Commission and he has recently been awarded a grant from Chamber Music America’s “New Works: Creation and Presentation” program, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Jason Moran and the Big Bandwagon includes
• Jason Moran, piano
• Tarus Mateen, bass
• Nasheet Waits, drums
• Ralph Alessi, trumpet
• Logan Richardson, alto saxophone
• Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone
• Isaac Smith, trombone
• Bob Stewart, tuba

For tickets and more information visit sfjazz.org