Jason Moran Will Perform Duke Ellington at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Jason Moran will celebrate the 125th Anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 8pm in a solo piano concert at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. Moran’s celebration of the genius of Duke Ellington follows his similar monumental touring works that have included tributes to jazz giants Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller, and James Reese Europe.

The Artistic Director of Jazz at The Kennedy Center, Jason Moran brings his solo piano ascent up “Mount Ellington” to Long Beach with brilliantly reimagined solos of Ellington classics, from “I’ve Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good” to “Reflections in D.” In this inspired evening of Ellington, Moran illuminates why The Duke’s music is still captivatingly fresh and contemporary and demonstrates how the jazz giant’s career continues to inspire artistic freedom and cultural empowerment.

Jazz audiences can expect not only an impassioned exploration of one of the 20th century’s most important composer, bandleader, and pianists, but also a concert of brilliantly reimagined selections from Ellington’s canon that demonstrate pianist Moran’s incomparable talent and innovation—qualities that have earned Moran a prestigious MacArthur “Genius Grant” and made him a sought-after collaborator.

As with recent premiere jazz performances at the Carpenter Center—including those with Branford Marsalis and Samara Joy—select Bob Cole Conservatory of Music students at CSULB will have the opportunity to meet Jason Moran on the night of the performance. 

About Jason Moran

Jazz pianist Jason Moran has proven his brilliance as a performer, composer, risk-taker, and innovator of new directions for jazz. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Jaki Byard, Moran went on to study with Andrew Hill and Muhal Richard Abrams. Moran’s 18-year relationship with Blue Note Records produced nine highly acclaimed recordings, and he has gone on to produce nine additional albums, as well as created scores for the films Selma and 13th and author Ta-Nehisi Coates’ staged version of Between the World and Me. Moran has performed and/or recorded with Cassandra Wilson, Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Andrew Hill, Lee Konitz, Christian McBride, and Stefon Harris among many others. Moran is currently the Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center, teaches at New England Conservatory and Jazz Ahead, and curates the Artist’s Studio series for Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

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