Next at the Kennedy Center: Jason Moran & Christian McBride

Following in the footsteps of the legendary Dr. Billy Taylor is an intimidating proposition, but Jason Moran’s musical career has always been bold. Who else has set a Turkish stock report to music? Yet, he has always respected the musical elders who came before him. Now serving as the Kennedy Center’s Artistic Director for Jazz (succeeding Dr. Taylor), Moran and prolifically-recorded bassist Christian McBride pay tribute to their mentors and inspirations in Continuum: Jason Moran & Christian McBride, the latest installment of Next at the Lincoln Center, premiering tomorrow night on PBS.

In between their duo performances, the jazz pianist and bassist talk about music and some of the greats who influenced them. It rather makes sense that Monk was one of the first jazz greats to really light Moran’s fire. Even today, it is nearly impossible to classify Monk’s distinctive rhythms and melodies. Labeling him “bebop” just does not do him justice. Likewise, Moran has existed in a space outside, but influenced by post-bop, the avant-garde, hip hop, and R&B. When he and McBride dig into “Blue Monk” it sounds very different than Monk’s recorded renditions, yet in a way, yet it is still completely Monk-like.

Moran and McBride later circle back to Monk with “Evidence,” in a dynamic arrangement that totally reflects Moran’s voice, but they start with Charles Mingus’s “Hobo Ho/Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” in acknowledgment of McBride’s influences. Again, there really wasn’t anyone else like Mingus.

Moran often draws inspiration from literature, as we can hear on “Toni Morrison Said Black is a Rainbow,” which has a subtle gospel flavor that gives space for McBride’s eloquent sermon-like feature spots. Quite surprisingly, their final performance (at least as edited for television) concludes with Bob Thiele’s “What a Wonderful World” (popularized by Louis Armstrong late in his career), but the stripped-down elegance of the arrangement and their heartfelt performance makes it feel fresh and vital.

The Poetic Charles Lloyd

Rabo de Nube
Charles Lloyd Quartet
ECM Records

There seems to be something almost otherworldly about Charles Lloyd. Steeped in the primeval blues of Memphis and informed by Eastern music and philosophy, Lloyd always pursues his own alchemy. His latest, Rabo de Nube a live set released within days of his seventieth birthday, proves Lloyd’s powers remain undiminished with the passage of years.

U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic contributed original verse for the liner, in an appropriate fit between poet and musician. Simic’s work combines the very real, concrete details of our world with a surreal vision of what lurks around the corner, just out of sight. Lloyd has always been very much of this world, grounded in the blues. Yet he is able to step outside it, with his searching flights of exploration.

In “Two for Charles Lloyd” Simic contrasts the pastoral of the flute with the urban of the tenor saxophone. For tenor, Simic writes: “Late night talk/On a tenor/With the dead/And the shadows they cast.” The opener “Prometheus,” a tenor feature, is a turbulent piece that demonstrates why Lloyd was often categorized in the Coltrane school during the 1960’s. Skitterish and constantly changing, it indeed could be an eerie conversation with Trane.

Lloyd continues on tenor with “Migration of Spirit.” Starting with Reuben Rodgers’ unaccompanied bass prelude, it builds in intensity as the full quartet enters, ultimately reaching ecstatic crescendos as Lloyd swoops and soars above. Then the rhythm section locks in and brings it back to Earth for a swinging solo from Jason Moran.

JaMo is one of the most accomplished jazz artists to hit the scene in the last eight or nine years, and it is fascinating to hear him play with Lloyd. Moran has recently been exploring the music of Thelonius Monk (particularly the 1959 Town Hall concert) so he has a lot to say with Lloyd on the Monkish duet “La Colline de Monk.”

Simic associates the flute with nature—the Charles Lloyd pictured in Big Sur, gazing out into the far distance. He writes: “The sound of flute,/That purest of instruments,/Close to breath,/Close to wind in the leaves.” Yet the flute selection is the most boppish tune on Rabo, “Booker’s Garden,” an up-tempo tribute to Booker Little, that also features a funky, percussive solo from Moran.

The concluding title track is the only composition of the set not penned by Lloyd. It is a tune he is revisiting from Lift Every Voice, the powerful set of spirituals and other meaningful tunes Lloyd recorded in the immediate aftermath of September 11th. The version here is much less elegiac, with a relaxed lyricism perfectly suiting his tenor voice.

Lloyd is indeed a poetic jazz artist. He has long had a mysterious ability to invent brief little melodies (or stanzas) in his solos that seem to redefine the entire song. As evidenced by Rabo, he has lost none of his power.

JaMo & Bandwagon: In the Standard, but Not Standard Fare

Jason Moran with the Bandwagon (Nasheet Waits on drums and Taurus Mateen on bass) are one of the few groups I have actually dragged reluctant people out to hear. They have a rare ability to project a “we’re cooler than you” attitude, while remaining likeable on the bandstand. Having heard them live on many occasions, one comes to expect something new each time, whether it is the challenging material recorded live at the Vanguard, featuring music improvised to a Turkish telephone conversation and a Chinese stock market report, or the blues drenched material of Same Mother.

Last night at the Jazz Standard, JaMo was in a Monkish mood, having spent serious time with Monk’s 1959 Town Hall concert. Bandwagon nicely interpreted “Crepuscule with Nellie” and “Thelonious,” wholeheartedly enjoying Monk’s odd charm, while retaining the lyric beauty of the former love song dedicated to Monk’s wife.

Moran also read the NY Times pan of the Town Hall concert over Monk’s the original concert recordings of both tunes combined into one track. The overdubbed Monk was actually an intriguing effect, but the review, calling the concert “work-a-day” “pipe and slippers” music does not hold up well under any circumstances.

The highlights of the set were tributes to Moran’s mentors. He acknowledged his teacher Jaki Byard with “To Bob Vatel of Paris.” The late Andrew Hill’s presence was also felt in a medley of his original “Tough Love” flowing into a beautiful untitled composition Hill and Moran worked out, for which Moran says he is awaiting a sign from the master to name.

The over-riding vibe last night was a good groove from a group that has played together since 2000. They are fascinating to listen to, as each tune goes through an evolution, rising and falling in intensity, covering a wide emotional spectrum, but never straying far from their sense of humor. They play at the Standard through Sunday.