oe Moran

Jason Moran's fourth Blue Note album, a highly idiosyncratic solo piano venture, attempts to reconcile a staggeringly diverse set of influences into a cohesive artistic vision. Beginning with stride master James P. Johnson's "You've Got to Be Modernistic," the omnivorous young pianist then takes that title to heart by personalizing everything from Robert Schumann's "Auf Einer Burg" to Muhal Richard Abrams' "Time Into Space Into Time" to Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock." Among the originals are two more chapters in Moran's ongoing "Gangsterism" series, as well as the closing "Gentle Shifts South," one of his simplest, most affecting melodies. Not unlike Brad Mehldau's Largo, which was released around the same time, Modernistic explodes jazz piano conventions by addressing the issue of sound…

Jason Moran - All Rise (2014) {Blue Note B001926102}
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© 2014 Blue Note | B001926102
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Post Bop

Yeah, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller is a tribute to the great stride pianist, but in Jason Moran's hands, it's not what one would expect. This album isn't full of stride piano, but it is full of Fats Waller's larger persona as a performer. Waller mixed jokes and comic routines, and did whatever he could to connect with his audience in his act, and if his piano playing was the hinge, it sat on a door that opened straight to the dancefloor. This album had its beginnings when Moran was commissioned by the N.Y.C. performing arts venue Harlem Stage Gatehouse to create a tribute to Waller as part of its Harlem Jazz Shrines series.

Despite mixed reviews in publications, this album is absolutely mesmerising. There is something for everyone in this album; whether it's the song about the culture of America (Break Down) or the inspired national anthem (Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing), every song has the kind of genius ideas that we've come to expect of Jason Moran. Also, Cradle Song is a nice touch, a tribute to his mother, who recently passed away.

Robert Moran (b. 1937) writes beautiful, consonant, melodic music that ... at its best combines graceful surfaces with intimations of emotional depth.