Saturday night was ripe with a host of entertainment options for sophomore summer parents' weekend. Between student performing groups and professional performing groups, there was plenty to choose from.
However, the standing ovation at the end of the show indicated to me that those who chose to attend Jason Moran and The Bandwagon were more than pleased with their decision.
Jason Moran is recognized as being one of the hottest new sounds in jazz. With the help of bassist, Tarus Mateen, and drummer, Nasheet Waits, the trio has succeeded in creating not just a new sound, but also a new approach to jazz.
The set list performed on Saturday night at Spaulding Auditorium included spoken samples before, during, and after certain songs -- part of this new approach.
Initially I couldn't decide what I thought of the samples.
For some songs, I thought they took away from the music, whereas for other songs, I thought they fit a little better, but I still wasn't blown away by them by any means.
But it wasn't until the Q & A session after the show that I actually realized what was being achieved with the samples.
Moran used a song the trio had performed earlier that evening, "Straight out of Istanbul" to explain how the samples worked. The sample was of a tour guide in Istanbul who was speaking to a group. Halfway through an explanation of a site, she answered her cell phone and began talking to her mother.
During the song, which accompanied the recorded conversation, the trio followed the breaks in the conversation, and as Moran explained, followed her intonation and pitch changes as well.
He explained how everybody speaks in a melody, and how that melody can be put into song.
Essentially what they were doing was playing along with the tour guide's song. It was really impressive.
Another song that included voice samples was a solo piece performed by Moran called "Gentle Shifts South" which he called "a family piece" and included several family members talking about their ancestors.
It was one of the gentler pieces played that evening and Moran lulled the audience into a daze with quiet strokes of the keys.
What I felt differentiated the trio from other modern jazz bands, was not only the use of voice samples in the music, but also their ability to cover so many different kinds of sound.
They played songs that were very staccato, loud, and in your face, and also songs that were smoother and more sensual.
Regardless of the sound, the mood or the tempo, every song maintained amazing rhythm and cohesion between the three artists, who were clearly doing a lot of improv.
The songs ended beautifully tied together, but almost with no notice at all, to the point that the audience tended to sit there for about two seconds before it occurred to anyone to clap.
Someone brought this up during the Q & A -- how the players were able to bring songs to an end so unanimously and spontaneously, with no evident indicators, and after significant improvisation on all three parts.
They responded that playing together for five years has allowed them to develop a telepathy and rather than playing as three individuals, they have come to play as a unit.
Another distinguishing factor about the performance, was that while Jason Moran was headlining the show, the Bandwagon was not just along for the ride, as their name might imply.
Both Mateen and Waits are very accomplished musicians in their own domain, and did not merely back Moran up, but really contributed to the overall sound quality.
Mateen actually does a lot of work with R&B and rap recordings and has recorded bass lines for the likes of OutKast, Toni Braxton, and Goodie Mob in addition to having worked on several movie scores.
As for the Bandwagon's modern approach to jazz and sound innovation, Moran points to musicians like Radiohead and Bjork for developing the electro-acoustic sound that the Bandwagon sources as an influence for its hybrid sound.
All three musicians agreed that they were not of the jazz era. While this is the foundation for their music, there are also very clearly traces of rap, R&B, and hip hop in their compositions.
Moran himself best qualifies the group's aim when he said, "I'm afraid of my records sounding the same."
"I would consider it almost a step backwards to kind of repeat something I've done before."
He said, "I think we are all at an age in our lives where we mature or we change quicker than milk goes bad."
