Jason Moran - Artist in Residence

Blue Note 10565

A restless spirit, pianist Jason Moran continues to explore the outer reaches of jazz on Artist In Residence. A compilation of excerpts drawn from three different commissioned works from the past year, it features Moran's Bandwagon collaborating with a number of artists from various fields. A mélange of styles, it demonstrates Moran's creative potential across a broad spectrum of settings.

Joined by his long-term trio mates, bassist Taurus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, Moran invites guitarist Marvin Sewell (from last year's Same Mother) into the fold as a permanent member of the Bandwagon. The group is augmented intermittently throughout the album with guest artists. A number of pieces are solo excursions from Moran accompanied solely by one other performer or samples from a mini-disc recorder.

The album is sequenced in cut and paste fashion, with only selected pieces from each work appearing. MILESTONE was commissioned by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and includes "Break Down," "Milestone," "Cradle Song" and "Artists Ought To Be Writing." From a traditional jazz standpoint, these four selections contain some of the album's most aesthetically challenging material. Conceptual artist Adrian Piper's voice is looped as a beat track on "Break Down" and inserted as the narrative drive on "Artists Ought To Be Writing." Moran's wife, the classically trained soprano Alicia Hall Moran, writes and sings on "Milestone."

The Walker Art Center selected Moran as its artist-in-residence and asked him to choose one piece of art from their collection as the basis for a composition. He chose Adrian Piper's photographic series, The Mythic Being: I/You (Her). Moran uses a sample of Piper's vocals as a literal set warm-up on "Break Down." The funky backbeat and looping devices address Moran's interest in contemporary hip-hop culture. As a jazz/hip-hop crossover attempt, compared with the work of today's finest practitioners, like DJ Logic, DJ Spooky, EL-P, Mike Ladd and Madlib, "Break Down" pales in comparison, reminiscent of the Kronos Quartet's similar academic excursions. But the Bandwagon's contributions are lively and invigorating, if a bit polite.

Immediately following is "Milestone." Embodying the art music sheen of Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi's duets and even Muhal Richard Abrams infamous pairing with soprano vocalist Ella Jackson on Things to Come From Those Now Gone, it feels out of sequence. The transition from street level funk to operatic art song austerity comes across as jarring. This is unfortunate, as the piece is rather beautiful, blossoming with vitality towards its conclusion when the entire Bandwagon enters with simmering energy.

Moran played Julian Lloyd Weber's "Cradle Song" early on as part of his Suzuki piano method training. Here, a pencil scratches in the background, symbolizing his mother's note taking as he performed his piano lessons. Personal and nostalgic, it reads as heartfelt, but without the visual staging, loses a bit in translation.

The conceptual center of the album is found in Moran's duet with Adrian Piper's sampled vocals on "Artists Ought to Be Writing." Never allowing them to dominate, Moran uses Piper's edifying vocals merely as a launching pad for his own improvisation, which is both contemporary abstract and simultaneously evocative of past styles.

The Dia Art Foundation commissioned The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things. "Refraction 1," Arizona Landscape" and "He Puts on his coat and leaves" are all inspired by German art historian Aby Warburg's essays and his ensuing mental breakdown after a visit to the American Southwest in the late 1890s. Video/performance artist Joan Jonas contributes percussion to "Refraction 1," an album highlight. Filled with exotic, skittering percussion flourishes, it again features Moran's pan-stylistic piano stylings.

"Refraction 2" is a re-interpretation of the initial piece featuring the entire Bandwagon. More overtly free form and electric, it is a potent example of Moran's creative potential when he allows his group to explore beyond his initial concepts. "Arizona Landscape" is a brief, atmospheric tone poem that sets the stage for the album's final suite.

Commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center, RAIN features an expanded line-up. Trumpeter Ralph Alessi introduces the piece with an unwavering trumpet line over the sound of footsteps, invoking the secret journeys slaves made to worship. The ensemble fills in gradually, as the tempo quickens. Abdou M'boup's African percussion adds to the polyrhythmic drive as the ring shout rises in intensity until it reaches a soulful, funky climax. The piece continues to arc, deconstructing into a full-blown free jazz catharsis.

Moran's arrangement of "Life Ev'ry Voice and Sing" follows, provided as a conceptual answer to the social ills addressed in RAIN's slavery-era indictment. Taken loosely, with Sewell's wah-wah guitar interjections and the rhythm section's fluid accompaniment, it provides much needed respite to the previous selections apocalyptic breakdown, providing a simmering ray of hope. "He puts his coat on and leaves" concludes the album on a tender and wistful note.

As documentation of performance pieces and theatrical collaborations, Artist in Residence suffers the same fate as opera, film soundtracks and visually theatrical live concert recordings. By presenting only the audio component of an audio-visual work, the listener has access to only half of the performance. Certain pieces work better than others do in such situations and this album is no exception. Devoid of the accompanying visuals, it is difficult to judge such a document as anything other than one facet of a larger whole.

Moran is, however, as much a composer as an improviser and he shows prescience in his thematic concept. "Milestone" and "Artists Ought To Be Writing" (from MILESTONE) both share a melodic kernel with "Refraction 2," "Refraction 1" and "He Puts on his coat and leaves" (from The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things). Reprised at regular intervals over the course of the session, this motif ties together occasionally disparate sections, helping unify the album, lending it the feel of a suite.

Rather than choose the easy path by spinning subtle variations on his already successful career, Moran chooses the high road. Like all brave artists, he forges ahead regardless of how people will perceive his experiments. For that, he should be commended, whether or not the results are entirely successful.

~ Troy Collins