JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON
Village Vanguard178 7th Avenue South, New York 10014
Jason Moran & The Bandwagon bring Moran’s long-running jazz trio to the Village Vanguard. No guests, release theme, tribute, or other evening-specific program has been announced, so the focus is on the group’s work together: original music, reworked standards, and the collective interplay that has defined the band.
Moran is a pianist and composer from Houston, Texas. He began playing with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits in 1998, first touring as the Jason Moran Trio before adopting the Bandwagon name. NPR describes the group as known for “deconstruct standards” and assembling Moran’s “mixed-media compositions,” with originals, inventive arrangements, and found sounds part of its vocabulary; the Whitney Museum calls its signature sound “fluid and miscalculated.” Moran has also performed with Charles Lloyd and Dave Holland, and earlier worked in saxophonist Greg Osby’s band. The New Yorker says the trio’s “fervor is hard to deny or resist,” while The Guardian praised its “astonishing conversations” and called it “one of the world’s great jazz groups.”
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.