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| Marcus Roberts & Jason Moran - Jazz at Lincoln Center March 17, 2005 (New York, NY) Jazz at Lincoln Center features pianists Marcus Roberts and Jason Moran with their separate bands for their Rose Theater debut with world premiere commissioned works on April 22 and 23, 2005. This performance is sponsored by Samsung Electronics America Inc. AS OF NOW concerts always feature world premieres of new compositions by an established jazz composer/performer and an up-and-coming composer/performer. The history of AS OF NOW includes the 2004 season with Martial Solal with Herve Sellin, the 2003 season with the big bands of Toshiko Akiyoshi and Maria Schneider, the 2002 season with Randy Weston and Danilo Perez, the 2001 season with Sam Rivers and Eric Reed, the 2000 season with Paquito D’Rivera and Nicholas Payton, and the 1999 season pairing of Charles McPherson with Wallace Roney. This year, pianist/composer Marcus Roberts will present a new composition for his great trio with Roland Guerin (bass) and Jason Marsalis (drums). Likewise, Jason Moran and The Bandwagon will be performing a new composition for a larger ensemble. “For any commissioned work, I want to use it as an opportunity to advance the native concepts within the group I’m writing for,” explains Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra alumnus Mr. Roberts. “In this case, the trio I’ve been working with, when we premiere this, it will be a month shy of working together ten years. There’s certain concepts we’ve worked with over that time, one of them being the roles of the bass and drums being shifted so that they’re more out front than the traditional trio setting. I try to write music that gives them more flexibility in how they can dictate the improvisational direction that the music takes, not just all driven by piano…and of course, we always want to draw from folk sources, be it the church or some other cultural situation, a poet, etc.” Joining Mr. Roberts on the bill is critically acclaimed Jason Moran, who proudly declares, “I don’t want to be the average musician. I want to be the man who, 50, 60, 100 years from now, you’re like, ‘Man, he was really on another level. He was trying to come at it from a different perspective.” He also challenges his fellow players to be unpredictable, “I want to keep the musicians on their toes, they want to keep me on my toes. We don’t want them to know all our moves.” Mr. Roberts looks forward to this AS OF NOW performance with Mr. Moran, “I feel good about it. I think he’s getting a lot of attention. Hopefully this will allow his group to make the next step too.” Mr. Roberts continues, “The more there’s a bridge between generations in this music, and the more there’s a feeling of solidarity and community among musicians, I think it will be easier for the public to latch on to what we’re doing. If everything remains compartmentalized and niché-oriented, the public doesn’t bond to the music the way they would if they perceived more of a melting pot.” *** Marcus Roberts bio Famed jazz pianist Marcus Roberts is renowned for his ability to address the entire history of jazz piano while performing in his own distinctive style. Roberts, who lost his sight at the age of five, began teaching himself to play piano at age eight. Roberts studied classical piano at Florida State University with Leonidus Lipovetsky, during which time he won many awards and competitions, including a young artist’s competition at the National Association of Jazz Educators’ 1982 Chicago Conference. After four years at Florida State, Mr. Roberts left to tour with Wynton Marsalis’ Quartet for six years. He signed his first recording contract in 1988 and subsequently enjoyed the distinction of being the first jazz musician to have his first three recordings reach No. 1 on Billboard’s traditional jazz chart. Mr. Roberts has released over a dozen acclaimed recordings, including Deep in the Shed, Blues for the New Millenium, Gershwin for Lovers, Portraits in Blue, In Honor of Duke, and more. Roberts has toured the U.S. and Europe both as a soloist as well as with his septet and trio, which includes drummer Jason Marsalis and bassist Roland Guerin. Mr. Roberts and his trio are active in jazz education and regularly teach master classes and workshops for students from the elementary school level to college jazz ensembles. Roberts was Artist-in-Residence for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Roberts new CD is entitled New Orleans Meets Harlem. Jason Moran bio Since his formidable emergence on the music scene in the late 90s, pianist Jason Moran has become a leading light and a man to watch in modern jazz. In almost every category that matters—improvisation, composition, group concept, repertoire, technique and technological experimentation—Moran and his group, the Bandwagon, with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, have challenged the status quo each time out. With his latest Blue Note release, Same Mother, he ups the ante. Same Mother is Moran's sixth album as a leader for Blue Note. Well known for throwing more than a few left curves and even a few left jabs at “the same old thing” in jazz, The Bandwagon continues to fire away at complacency and orthodoxy, flummoxing contemporary audiences' notions about the classic piano trio. Mr. Moran has performed as a sideman with Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, Steve Coleman, Lee Konitz, Von Freeman, Ravi Coltrane, and Stefon Harris. The Jazz Journalists Association awarded Mr. Moran with “Up-n-Coming Jazz Musician” of 2003. Moran topped the Down Beat Critics Poll in three categories in 2003 and 2004 – “Rising Star Jazz Artist,” “Rising Star Pianist,” and “Rising Star Composer.” In addition to the performances, the Marcus Roberts Trio will also be leading a rhythm section master class: Three’s Company. This world-renowned trio will work with student rhythm sections from The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Queens College, in a rare, behind-the-scenes educational event. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |