JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON
Village Vanguard178 7th Avenue South, New York 10014
Jason Moran & The Bandwagon bring their long-running jazz trio to the Village Vanguard. The billing identifies pianist and composer Moran with the Bandwagon, a group whose usual formation is Moran on piano, Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. No further details have been announced for this particular performance, so expect the trio format rather than a billed tribute, release event or guest appearance.
Moran comes from Houston, Texas, and has built a historically alert, exploratory body of work that joins jazz tradition to composition, improvisation and sampled sound. His projects have included tributes to Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller and James Reese Europe, and his collaborators range from Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland, Cassandra Wilson and Sam Rivers to visual artists Joan Jonas, Glenn Ligon and Kara Walker. The Bandwagon has been called a “supremely flexible trio” and a “telepathic working trio.” The Los Angeles Times described Moran as “a startlingly gifted pianist with a relentless thirst for experimentation”; The New Yorker wrote that the trio’s “fervor is hard to deny or resist,” while DownBeat called them “unassailably brilliant.”
A narrow basement staircase leads to a triangular room with a red curtain and a stage at the point, where musicians play for a small audience of 123. Tables open like spokes from the stage, and the walls hold portraits of jazz legends. The acoustics are excellent, and the only sound before the music begins is the hum of the room. No food is served, only drinks at a bar. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with seating beginning at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively. The atmosphere is focused entirely on the music, with silence requested before the concert begins.