Send "Jason Moran " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Boston |
 It’s been more than a decade since Jason Moran appeared out of nowhere and upended the notion that no one in jazz could do anything new on the piano. From the opening moments of his first album, “Soundtrack to Human Motion,’’ Moran announced himself as not just a musician but an artiste. He arrived with a fully developed style, one that suggested the compositional genius of Andrew Hill, the ragged rhythmic approach of Thelonious Monk, and the melodic intuitiveness of Herbie Hancock (and others). In 10 short years, he managed to issue several albums that are already considered classics and keep together a trio that is one of today’s finest. That trio — Bandwagon, with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits — is behind “Ten,’’ Moran’s outstanding new disc. It contains the best of what he does: smart writing, propulsive rhythms, and improvisations that suggest mile-a-minute thinking and a sense that Moran constantly pushes himself to find the freshest phrase. There is an astounding right-hand run toward the end of “Blue Blocks’’ that is so brilliant it would blind you if you could see sound. Even more miraculous: his dramatic, modernistic twist on Monk’s “Crepuscule With Nellie’’ and his wry take on “Study No. 6,’’ a piece by Conlon Nancarrow. (Out June 22) STEVE GREENLEE...full text |
| Nytimes |
| Any hip-hop act but the Roots would be bragging about camera time on “How I Got Over,” their first studio album since becoming the supremely flexible house band for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Reaching a nationwide television audience every weeknight, the Roots may be the most widely seen hip-hop group ever. But there’s no TV-star smugness on the Roots’ ninth studio album, “How I Got Over.” Instead, the group’s first album since starting the “Late Night” job is a serious deliberation on perseverance: a message for an era of recession. “Some feeling a pinch, some feeling a bite/They ain’t ready to talk, they all ready to fight,” goes the chorus of “Radio Daze.” “How I Got Over” is named after a gospel standard — a Clara Ward song made famous by Mahalia Jackson — and there’s a streak of the church in the Roots’ new songs. Many of them ride piano chords, talk about God and prayer and call on listeners to keep struggling, as the album sequence moves from solitary desperation (“Walk Alone”) to determination (“Now or Never”). But the optimistic certainties of gospel are rare. Most songs are in stark minor keys, and hope is never guaranteed. The first single, “Dear God 2.0,” spins off the Monsters of Folk song “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” in which Jim James (from My Morning Jacket) sings, “Sometimes it’s so hard to believe”; Black Thought, the Roots’ rapper, adds grim details. The album’s title track is not the Ward song, but advice on ghetto survival....full text |
| Latimesblogs |
| Artistic rivalries are generally an overblown concept in music, something for obsessives to debate over drinks. Still, in the wake of the avalanche of acclaim received by pianist Vijay Iyer last year for his excellent trio album "Historicity," it's hard not to wonder if the similarly lauded Jason Moran is issuing a response with "Ten," a new album backed by his longtime rhythm section, the Bandwagon. A startlingly gifted pianist with a relentless thirst for experimentation, Moran returns to a trio format after teaming with guitarist Marvin Sewell for two records, and the results are devastatingly sharp. Blasting out of a bluesy opening that briefly brushes against "Georgia on My Mind," "Blue Blocks" builds on a driving rhythm from drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen as Moran's keyboard flutters and gathers strength, finally resembling two pianos locked in a joyful duet. "Feedback Pt. 2" shows Moran's taste for sonic adventure remains intact as a Jimi Hendrix sample is twisted into a metallic whisper as the trio swirls through a ghostly, unsettling ballad. Moran further honors his influences with a rollicking take on Jaki Byard's "To Bob Vatel of Paris" and "Play to Live," a contemplative, restless piece Moran wrote with Andrew Hill. Also offering takes on classical composers Conlon Nancarrow and Leonard Bernstein, "Ten" is an unpredictable, imaginative ride. Of course, it's just a happy coincidence that Iyer and Moran would release such remarkable trio records in consecutive years, but imagining these two musicians pushing each other to new heights for years to come sure sounds good regardless. -- Chris Barton...full text |
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