A solo set by pianist Jason Moran – but one that's got the intensity of a full group session! We honestly didn't know how we'd respond to this one, but we find the album to be really compelling – a great blend of tunes from sources that include James P Johnson, Arthur Baker, and Muhal Richard Abrams, next to some sparkling originals by Moran. Titles include "Planet Rock", "You've Got To Be Modernistic", "Passion", "Gansterism On A Lunchtable", "Time Into Space Into Time", and "Gentle Shifts South". CD

A stellar live jazz trio effort led by drummer Paul Motian – and what a trio he leads, with Chris Potter on tenor sax and the always wonderful Jason Moran on piano – one of the better new ECM albums in years! The material was captured in February of '09 at the Village Vanguard, NYC – with frequent collaborators Motian & Potter working exceptionally well with Moran, which we'd have had to expect given Moran's versatility and respect for his peers and inspirations. Most of the material here keeps you rapt in loose, delicate and quiet inteplay with some more feverish solos and mostly Motian compositions. Titles include "Mode VI", "Casino", "Lost In A Dream", "Blue Midnight", "Be Careful It's My Heart", "Birdsong", "Ten", "Abacus" and "Cathedral Song". CD

A stunner of a set from Jason Moran – hardly the easy Fats Waller tribute you might guess from the title, and instead a sweet electric session that's filled with soul, and a quality that's a real change from some of Moran's other music! The record was co-produced by Meshelle Ndegeocello, who also sings on the set at times – and it's got a blend of jazz and vocals that's not far from some of the other Blue Note projects of late – especially from the Roberg Glasper camp! A few tunes are definitely older Waller numbers, or standards that Fats might have played – but Moran's handling is very untraditional – with lots of Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer organ, and vocals from singers who include Ndegeocello, Lisa Harris, Charles Haynes, and Leron Thomas. Thomas also plays trumpet, and the group also features trombone from Josh Roseman and tenor from Stephen Lehman – on titles that include "Put Your Hands On It", "Yacht Club Swing", "The Joint Is Jumpin", "Two Sleepy People", "Jitterbug Waltz", "Fats Elegy", and "Handful Of Keys". CD

A nice little live trio outing with Jason Moran's angular piano out front of Tarus Mateen on acoustic electric bass and Nasheet Waits on the kit. The set has a much freer, and more laguorous feel than Moran's great (if a little straight) Black Stars album, and fleshes out the more experimental ideas he put to tape solo on the Modernistic album. "Planet Rock" fares especially well in this setting – with the tight bass and snapping trap that was missing in the studio version. Another nice piece of work by possibly the greatest young talent on Blue Note right now! Other tracks include "Gangsterism On Canvas", "Ringing My Phone (Straight Outta Istanbul)", "Gentle Shifts South", "Body & Soul", "Infospace", "Out Front", and "Intermezzo Op. 118, No. 2". CD

New work from pianist Jason Moran – one of Blue Note's more exciting new talents of the past 10 years. Moran's joined on the album by Sam Rivers, which is fitting, as the best tracks have a soulful spirit that recalls the creativity of Rivers' best "new thing" years at Blue Note. Rivers plays tenor, soprano, flute, and piano – and the pair are accompanied by Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. Titles include "Earth Song", "Summit", "Say Peace", "Foot Under Foot", "Draw The Light Out", and "The Sun At Midnight". CD

Features Moran on piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes – plus Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. CD

Jason Moran and The Bandwagon – his stellar jazz trio featuring the top tier jazz pianist along with drummer Nasheet Waits & Tarus Mateen on bass – marking their 10th year with this thoroughly excellent album for Blue Note! Moran has stayed plenty busy in the aughties, but Ten is actually his first album since 2006 – and it's a great one, rivaling his first couple records for Blue Note – and that's saying something, because those are among our favorite modern albums for the venerable jazz label in many years. Includes several sharp Moran originals such like "Blue Blocks", "RFK In The Land Of Apartheid", "Pas De Deux-Lines Ballet", "Gangsterism Over 10 Years", "Old Babies" and "Playtolive" (the latter with the great Andrew Hill) – plus Mateen's "The Subtle One" and readings of Jaki Byard's "To Bob Vatel Of Paris" and Monk's "Crepuscule With Nellie". Brilliant stuff! CD

Beautiful duets between this richly creative pair – a stripped-down set that really showcases the warmth and intimacy of Charles Lloyd's reed styles in recent years – and one that also has Jason Moran warming up a bit more than usual too! Lloyd plays tenor and alto, both with a very rich tone – plus bass and alto flutes – and although Moran mostly plays piano, he also handles a bit of tambourine – maybe in a way that underscores the rhythmic elements that Jason brings to his work on a few tracks. The centerpiece of the album is the "Hagar Suite" – which has some of the evocative, exotic modes of other Lloyd recordings – and other titles include "God Only Knows", "Pretty Girl", "Mood Indigo", "Bess You Is My Woman Now", and "Pictogram". CD

Three different works, all created for artist Joan Jonas, and each with a slightly different approach! Pianist Jason Moran has a creative relationship with Jonas that extends back longer than a decade – and over the course of these pieces, you can really hear their ideas develop – from an initial mix of the music of Moran and the text of Jonas, to some richer more textural passages that are almost like paintings in music, words, and sound all coming together at once! Moran plays some keyboards in addition to acoustic piano, Jonas handles a bit of percussion, and the set also features voice by two other performers too. The works are "The Shape The Scent The Feel Of Things", "Reanimation", and "They Come To Us Without A Word". CD

Blue Note boy genius Jason Moran rolls forward with another fine set for the label – leading a quartet session with a keen ear for 40s deep south jazz with groundwork in the blues – without sacrificing the freedom and fervor of bop or more contemporary sounds! Moran's been moving very well for a few years in the comfort of his great trio, featuring Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on the kit – this time adding a stellar guitar in Marvin Sewell. It's only appropriate that the measured piano firebrand would jump back a couple generations after lending his attention to hip hop and electro on the last studio album – and he does so with the same geniune passion, and perhaps even more appealing results! Tracks include "Gangsterism On The Rise", "Jump Up", "Aubade", "G Suit Saltation", "I'll Play The Blues For You", Mal Waldron's hot "Fire Waltz", "Field Of The Dead", "Restin'", "Gangsterism On The Set" and more. CD

Features Oliver Lake on saxophones, Reggie Workman on bass, Andrew Cyrille on drums, and special guest Jason Moran on piano! CD

Late life brilliance from the legendary Charles Lloyd – a reed player who seems to have given the world more great music in the past 20 years than he had in the previous 60s! Lloyd keeps on moving forward with all these new ideas and fresh conceptions – and here, he blows tenor, alto, and flutes in a great quartet that features Jason Moran on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Brian Blade on drums – all excellent players on their own, but musicians who also put their egos aside to fold into the richness of Lloyd's music. The set's got a subtle spiritual current throughout – nicely understated, but very pure – on titles that include "The Water Is Rising", "Defiant Tender Warrior", "Beyond Darkness", "Sky Valley Spirit Of The Forest", "Balm In Gilead", "Cape To Cairo", and "Ghost Of Lady Day". CD

Late life brilliance from the legendary Charles Lloyd – a reed player who seems to have given the world more great music in the past 20 years than he had in the previous 60s! Lloyd keeps on moving forward with all these new ideas and fresh conceptions – and here, he blows tenor, alto, and flutes in a great quartet that features Jason Moran on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Brian Blade on drums – all excellent players on their own, but musicians who also put their egos aside to fold into the richness of Lloyd's music. The set's got a subtle spiritual current throughout – nicely understated, but very pure – on titles that include "The Water Is Rising", "Defiant Tender Warrior", "Beyond Darkness", "Sky Valley Spirit Of The Forest", "Balm In Gilead", "Cape To Cairo", and "Ghost Of Lady Day". LP, Vinyl record album

An ambitious little set from Christian McBride – one that brings together 3CDs of music recorded over 2 nights of performance – all in a mode that shows McBride picking up plenty of funky touches! The group here features Geoffrey Keezer on keyboards, Ron Blake on saxes, and Terreon Gully on drums – really hitting the kit with a pounding intensity to match McBride's pulsating work on both acoustic and electric basses – jamming here a lot strongly than we remember from other studio sides. The expanded package is presented (amazingly) at the same price as a regular CD – and offers plenty of long tracks to really hear this great band stretch out in a space that's nicely between conventional jazz and some of the looser modes of the jamband underground. Guest appearances include Charlie Hunter, DJ Logic, Scratch, Eric Krasno, and Jason Moran – and titles include "Say Something", "Clerow's Flipped", "Lejos De Usted", "Sonic Tonic", "Hibiscus", "Sitting On A Cloud", "Mwandishi Outcome Jam", "Lower East Side", "See Jam Hear Jam Feel Jam", "E Jam", and "D Shuffle Jam". Lots of jams! CD

Osby expanding his sound as ever – adding in a string quartet to a jazz recording performed on alto and soprano sax, in a quartet with Jason Moran on piano, Scott Colley on bass, and Marlon Browden on drums and percussion. The quartet are used in various interesting ways in kind of a post Kronos sort of groove – taking up a lot of the rhythm parts as well as filling in the tracks with washes of sound and color, but never dominating the jazz group that is at the core. Titles include "Northbound", "One Room", "Repay In Kind", "3 For Civility", "The Keep", "M", and "Golden Sunset". CD

A very different album than you might expect from London reedman Shabaka Hutchings – a set that's got a very peaceful, meditative vibe a times – and one that has Shabaka looking inside for righteous inspiration, then spinning things out in a beautiful way! Hutchings put aside his more familiar tenor for flute on most of the record – although he also blows tenor on one track, plus a bit of shakuhachi and clarinet as well – amidst a shifting array of guests who include Jason Moran and Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, Esperanza Spaulding on bass, Nasheet Waits on drums, Brandee Younger on harp, Carlos Nino on percussion, and Migue Atwood Ferguson on violin – the last two of whom are maybe no surprise, given the vibe of the album. There's vocals on a few tracks – from Saul Williams, Moses Sumney, Elucid, and Laraaji – and Andre 3000 also plays flute on one track too. Titles include "Kiss Me Before I Forget", "Song Of The Motherland", "Breathing", "Insecurities", "End Of Innocence", "As The Planets & Stars Collapse", and "The Wounded Need To Be Replentished". LP, Vinyl record album

Moor Mother's an artist who just keeps on getting more and more interesting with each new release – definitely in a genre that's completely her own – one that lives up to the spirit of west coast underground pioneers in recent decades – and, as with those artists, seemingly finds a sonic space that none of us knew existed! Under her real name, Camae Ayewa, Moor Mother has roots in musical education in the world of higher learning – and here, she's managed to draw together many strands of that experience into a voice that's not only all her own, but completely organic and laidback too – a mixture of hip hop, soul, spoken word, and some of the jazzier currents promised in the title. Nearly every single track features a collaboration – artists include Nicole Mitchell, Melanie Charles, Jason Moran, Wolf Weston, and many others – and titles include "Woody Shaw", "Ode To Mary", "Umzansi", "Golden Lady", "Blame", "Blues Away", "Dust Together", "Arms Save", "Barely Woke", "Rap Jasm", and "Joe McPhee Nation Time Intro". CD

Greg Osby on alto sax, Jason Moran on piano, Rodney Green on drums and Az'shi Osada. CD

With Jason Moran on piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes, Kevin McNeal on guitar, Lonnie Plaxico and Dwayne Burno on bass, and Rodney Green on drums. CD

A very different album than you might expect from London reedman Shabaka Hutchings – a set that's got a very peaceful, meditative vibe a times – and one that has Shabaka looking inside for righteous inspiration, then spinning things out in a beautiful way! Hutchings put aside his more familiar tenor for flute on most of the record – although he also blows tenor on one track, plus a bit of shakuhachi and clarinet as well – amidst a shifting array of guests who include Jason Moran and Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, Esperanza Spaulding on bass, Nasheet Waits on drums, Brandee Younger on harp, Carlos Nino on percussion, and Migue Atwood Ferguson on violin – the last two of whom are maybe no surprise, given the vibe of the album. There's vocals on a few tracks – from Saul Williams, Moses Sumney, Elucid, and Laraaji – and Andre 3000 also plays flute on one track too. Titles include "Kiss Me Before I Forget", "Song Of The Motherland", "Breathing", "Insecurities", "End Of Innocence", "As The Planets & Stars Collapse", and "The Wounded Need To Be Replentished". CD

There's never been a magazine like this – a publication that seems to cover jazz of the past and the future with equal enthusiasm – and which has a way of making everything come together in a wonderfully vivid way! As with previous issues, the choice of subjects seems very close to our own hearts – as a mix of great writers take on artists who include Petter Eldh, Shabaka Hutchings, Jason Moran, Darius Jones, Sven Wunder, and spiritual reedman Carlos Garnett – while also looking at the Sounds Of Freedom residency, and the cool Hip Holland Hip record as well! Speaking of records, Mats Gustafsson turns in a great entry of his Discaholic column – which is then followed by pages of great reviews of other jazz treasures from the past and present. The whole magazine is done in a book-style format – squarebound, 128 pages, very little ads, and cool color images throughout! Magazine

With Steve Coleman on alto, Anthon Tidd on bass, Sean Rickman on drums, and Miguel 'Anga' Diaz on percussion – plus a long list of guest artists including Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, and Stefon Harris. CD

Brilliant work from Stefon Harris – one of the boldest voices on vibes of his generation– with a sound that resonates strongly with older work by Bobby Hutcherson and Walt Dickerson! Like both of those players, Harris has a way of approaching the vibes that is freshly modern, yet also strongly rhythmic and swinging – a groove that comes out even on the more experimental numbers in the set, and which makes the album resonate with colors and tones that few others on the instrument can match. The overall sound here is marked by Greg Osby's presence in the group and his production – but thankfully, those elements are a bit underplayed – and other players on the record include Steve Turre on trombone and Jason Moran on piano. Titles include "Feline Blues", "There Is No Greater Love", "Of Things To Come", "Bass Vibes", "Collage", "The Alchemist", "Chorale", "Faded Beauty", and "After The Day Is Done". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Charles Lloyd – a set of compelling originals mixed with standards, both old and new, performed in a laidback style that really makes the most of his wonderful tone! Lloyd was a player who was great from the start – but in recent years, he seems to have even deepened his sound more strongly – finding notes on the saxophone that few others could match, in ways that are similar to the levels that Archie Shepp hit during his maturing years. The cooled-off setting of the album works perfectly to highlight this great side of Lloyd's talents – and backing is subtle, and handled by the trio of Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. Titles include "Caroline No", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Monk's Mood", "Mirror", "Ruby My Dear", "Lift Every Voice & Sing", "Desolation Song", and "Tagi". CD

Charles Lloyd on reeds and flute – with Maria Farantouri on vocals, Socratis Sinopoulos on lyre, Takis Farazis and Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers on double bass, and Eric Harland on drums. CD

You might recognize the voice of MidnightRoba from her work on Attica Blues many years ago – and it's great to have Roba El-Essawy back on record, working here with a mature style that opens up a whole new side of her talents! The production is lush, in a way that has all these sonic elements swirling together with a very cosmic vibe – sometimes upbeat, but often midtempo, which seems to really suit Roba's vocals wonderfully – and allow them to hit this richness that's very unique, with a lower-end range that really emphasizes her uniqueness as a singer! Jason Moran guests on the tune "Bitter Boy" – and other tracks include "Time Heals", "Golden Seams", "Self Doubt", "Don't Let This Change", "Shelter Within", and "Safe With Me". LP, Vinyl record album

David Murray finds a fantastic new outlet for his many talents here – working with the younger songwriter Saul Williams – who delivers some fantastic lyrics throughout! Saul's as much a spoken word artist as he is a singer – and his passages on the album have this righteous power that takes us back to the hippest sort of music like this from the 70s – but also filtered through some of the lyrical possibilities of the better side of the hip hop generations, especially in the way the power of his messages come across! Murray is fantastic, too – really soulful and swinging, both on tenor and clarinet – and the songs often have Williams or Murray soloing first, then the other taking over. The rest of the group is pretty great as well – with Orrin Evans on piano, Craig Harris on trombone, Jaribu Shahid on bass, Nasheet Waits on drums, and a bit of Fender Rhodes from Jason Moran. Almost all tracks are originals – with titles that include "A Mirror Of Youth", "Kush", "Forever Brothers", "Music Of The Mind", "Deep In Me", "Positive Messages", "Obe", and "Citizens" – and the album also features a version of the Sun Ra tune "Enlightenment". CD

Features Curtis MacDonald and Roman Filiu on alto saxophone, Jose Davila on tuba, David Virelles and Jason Moran on piano, Christopher Hoffman on cello, and Craig Weinrib on drums. CD

Features Jason Moran on piano and Marvin Sewell on guitar. CD

Von Freeman the way we like to hear him – live! Although Von's recorded output has been quite low until recent years, the fantastic tenorist has been playing around Chicago for the past 50 years – working in regular gigs that are still some of the best shows you could ever hope to catch in this city. The CD features tracks from two of Von's regular haunts – shows at the Green Mill and New Apartment Lounge – both of which have him working with strong regular players, in a very comfortable lineup that really lets him open up and show the kind of magic that only he can craft in this sort of setting. One track is also recorded at the Chicago Cultural Center. Jason Moran plays piano on two tracks. Titles include "If I Should Lose You", "Ski Wee", "Darn That Dream", "Blue Bossa", and "I Like The Sunrise". CD

Features Jason Moran on piano, Greg Osby on alto, Steve Turre on trombone and shells, Steve Wilson on soprano sax, and Kimati Dinizulu on percussion and one string harp. CD