A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH JASON MORAN

(July 10, 2003)


The glass is half empty school of thought that there is nothing innovative germinating from major labels may have some truth, but such cynicism could overlook Jason Moran, the most provocatively progressive player on Blue Note since Cecil Taylor. I am not alone in my schoolgirl enthusiasm since Moran has recently become a critical darling of sorts. When his debut, Soundtrack to Human Motion, was released a handful of years ago, it seemed I was driving the JAMO bandwagon alone. Now, on the heels of his fifth Blue Note session, a live recording at the Village Vanguard (The Bandwagon), the JAMO bandwagon is so full, people are falling off and breaking their egos. How times have changed. But Moran has not and that further underscores the pianist's maturity and humility, as evident by our conversation, unedited and in his own words.


FRED JUNG: Greg Osby band: are you out or is it just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in?

JASON MORAN: I am doing a lot of work with my own band right now that is constantly in tandem with his. I like to do duos with Greg a lot. As far as the band was concerned, I was personally tired of having to groom drummers and bass players that were constantly rotating chairs. At a certain point, I started to get a lot of work on my own and it started to come into conflict with Greg's own performances and it was just best that I devoted my full time to working on my own group. I still want to do duets with Greg because that is a very powerful thing.


FJ: It is the eve of your fifth Blue Note release, aptly entitled The Bandwagon, since enough people can't seem to jump on yours fast enough.

JASON MORAN: (Laughing) There are a lot of no shows and refunded tickets too. There is always room because with the group finally starting to perform a fair amount, which wasn't necessarily the case before. Now, we have an opportunity to perform in front of audiences that have never been exposed to what we do during a set. We always have people who jump on. There is always room and there is always going to be room.


FJ: The Jason Moran Trio with Nasheet Waits and Tarus Mateen have been playing with you since Facing Left.

JASON MORAN: Well, they have a hook up that is very interesting because they hang out together a lot, a fair amount.


FJ: Not that there is anything wrong with that.

JASON MORAN: Not that there is anything wrong with that (laughing), but when they play, it is one of those nice hook ups, like when I hear Mark Helias and Tom Rainey or if I hear Paul Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, or Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. There are some really good hook ups in the music that when you hear it, it is like "wow" and it's really, really special. Tarus and Nasheet have that. They have a very different approach to playing time, which consists of time, but doesn't consist of time, the dynamics of freedom of line, freedom of melody, just freedom all around, so that there is never a complete piano solo or a complete bass solo as much as it is concentrating off the three of us. We have been playing together for the past five years and we were fired from bands or one of us was fired from bands. It was one of those things where we were always in different situations as a rhythm section, but would rarely function as a backup band. After Facing Left is when we kind of realized that we had something and we kept going and are still figuring it out.


FJ: Unlike your previous recordings, The Bandwagon is a live recording at the Village Vanguard. A live record is a different animal with no comfort zones of a studio and the immediacy of the audience.

JASON MORAN: The good thing is exactly what you just stated. It is what it is. The audience reaction is what it will be. There was no hype. I never announced to the audience that we would be recording. As far as the music, we had just gotten off of a tour in Europe, which was two and a half, three weeks, so we were fresh from starting to perform, whereas, the past couple of years, we would do a gig here and a gig there and another gig a month and a half later, so we would never get a real roll going. We were fresh off of playing and it was the first time for us playing at the Village Vanguard as a group for a week. That was real important. I wanted to document it at the Vanguard because the sound in there is the best. You just go for it while you still have the energy.


FJ: Where jazz music is concerned, you have made it. You have recorded at the Vanguard, placing you in very selective company.

JASON MORAN: There have been many other points in my life that I am proud of, but that is definitely a good one. I felt just as a group that we were doing something in the Vanguard that necessarily hadn't been done before, as far as playing and as far as doing the taped intros. I remember we did just a weekend at the Vanguard at last year's JVC Festival and when I went in there to do the sound check and I started to play the taped intro, which is actually cut on the record, the sound man was like, "Has Lorraine (Gordon) heard this?" Almost as if she wouldn't dig the shit and she would lash out at me. None of that ever happened, which was a good sign.


FJ: For people that have just hopped on the JAMO bandwagon, give them insight into your "Gangsterism" series.

JASON MORAN: It is something that I decided that I wanted to do at the very first "Gangsterism on Canvas," which was the first record. It is a composition process, a composition exercise. I am focused on trying to recreate that piece and put different outfits on it. I am trying to dress it up in as many different ways, but still maintain the character of the piece. It is a compositional exercise and for the title, I just changed around the mediums, whether it is canvas, wood, a river, a lunch table, or in this case, stages.


FJ: Is the "Gangsterism" series a parallel to Jason Moran?

JASON MORAN: It charts a certain progress for each one. I think in retrospect, yeah, I think it does. I don't know what is coming next and the "Gangsterisms" don't figure themselves out until I decide that it is time for another "Gangsterism." "Gangsterism on Stages," we decided to play it in 4 and we had actually played it in 4 with Greg at a concert we did in Portugal last year. We played it very uptempo and it was amazing, so we decided to try it again. Some pieces are composition and some pieces are just about improvisation and that was a piece on improvisation.


FJ: And the future?

JASON MORAN: I don't necessarily know. I was in the office the other day and Bruce Lundvall was talking about a large project. I said that I wasn't ready for that yet. I don't know what is going on next. I have a couple of ideas in my brain, but I am not sure exactly how they are going to come out.


FJ: Care to share?

JASON MORAN: One of them is a vocal project that is ambitious for me, the many ways of the voice. One is that I have an attraction to Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan. I want to do a whole concert with him, just piano and rapper, no bass, no drums, none of that, just really pair it down and get into the essence of what each one is, rather than the whole me or my band play a beat and he just raps on it. That is very simple, but to stretch it much further with a forty-five minute set of piano and rapper. Along the lines of that, a recording will be based on the many ways a voice can be used. Some of it may be choir, a small choir. Some of it may be classical. Some of it may be jazz. My fiancée is a classical vocalist and she writes great music. She already has repertoire that we have been playing. Who knows? I will just leave it at that.


FJ: Left coast tour dates?

JASON MORAN: I hope so. It has been over a year since I have been out there. We're going on tour this fall and we go to Europe next week. We're kind of in and out a lot. I hope we make it out to the West Coast again. It is rare we get to Southern California. I was in San Francisco. My band actually missed the flight so I had to play solo.


FJ: For the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

JASON MORAN: Yeah, so that's how that goes.


FJ: That touring.

JASON MORAN: Yeah, you always have to be prepared. It was actually a double bill with The Bad Plus, so I am sure people were looking forward to the duel that didn't happen. We will be out there at some point. L.A.'s a cool place. We hope to get back out there.


FJ: With all the work, any time for introspection?

JASON MORAN: I still maintain a good amount of downtime. This year has been the most busy I have ever been. Each year I say that because it has bee a short career of six or seven years. This year has been busy, which is good because I have gotten a chance to grow as a performer and really deal with that. I just did a duo with Lee Konitz, which was really hip. It's been nice.


FJ: Have you caught any good films?

JASON MORAN: I have to see some this week. My friend was telling me about Whale Rider. Rabbit-Proof Fence, which I missed. I think that will be coming out on video soon. What else? We just watched Black Orpheus for the first time, which was amazing. Those are the things that are on my mind as far as film is concerned.


FJ: The JAMO bus is getting crowded, but you deserve the adoration.

JASON MORAN: You will have sense to worry when I do a Jason Moran does the complete works of…shit anybody (laughing).


FJ: Do that and you and I won't be friends no more.

JASON MORAN: (Laughing) I like a lot of people, but when I do the complete body of work of someone else, that will be a deep point in my life.


Fred Jung is the Editor-In-Chief and is Wang Chunging tonight. Comments? Email Him