Jason Moran & NEC Students Celebrate Duke Ellington In MY HEART SINGS, February 8

Acclaimed pianist and NEC faculty member Jason Moran joins NEC students to celebrate jazz legend Duke Ellington's 125th birthday on Thursday, February 1, 7:30 p.m. at Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre, 255 St. Botolph St., Boston. Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings features the pianist in concert with NEC students performing a range of music including solo piano performances, as well as music for large and small ensembles.

The program includes the NEC Jazz Orchestra in “Braggin' in Brass,” “Jeep's Blues,” and “I Like the Sunrise,” and a small ensemble in “Mood Indigo,” “Transbluency,” and “My Heart Sings.” Admission is free. For information visit https://www.necmusic.edu/events/duke-elington-my-heart-sings.
 
Pianist and composer Jason Moran joined the New England Conservatory faculty in 2010, following a series of residencies at NEC. In September 2010, Moran was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and was cited by the Foundation for his "adventurous, genre-crossing jazz performances." Moran became the Kennedy Center's Artistic Advisor for Jazz in 2011. Named "Up-n-Coming Jazz Musician" of 2003 by the Jazz Journalists Association and called "the most provocative thinker in current jazz" by Rolling Stone, Moran first came to prominence as a member of saxophonist Greg Osby's touring and recording band in 1997. In 1999, Osby's label, Blue Note, signed Moran to a recording contract in his own right. He has since released eight CDs as a solo pianist or bandleader, to great acclaim. His current band, the Bandwagon, is a trio with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits.

After getting his early inspiration from Thelonious Monk, and his academic start at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Moran became one of Jaki Byard's last students in New York. In addition to critical and audience recognition of his music, Moran has received commissions from the San Francisco Jazz Festival and Chamber Music America, to which he responded by using sampled conversations as vocal triggers. Moran's willingness to mix media is currently being fulfilled by collaborations with such noted visual and performing artists as Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, and Joan Jonas.
Moran has performed as a sideman with such artists as Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, Steve Coleman, Lee Konitz, Von Freeman, Ravi Coltrane, and Stefon Harris. Moran's 1999 debut recording as a leader, Soundtrack to Human Motion, earned critical praise from The New York Times's Ben Ratliff, who named it best album of the year. His 2001 album, Black Stars, prompted Gary Giddins of The Village Voice to exclaim "Black Stars is possibly a Blue Note benchmark, definitely one of the year's outstanding discs."

Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867, the New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston's rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians' impact on advancing our shared humanity, and empowers students to meet today's changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance.

As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz and contemporary improvisation. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, it empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students and adults.

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