Moran, Nasheet Waits and Tarus Mateen played a spirited, strangely early (6:45 pm
; ah, the scheduling of a jazz fest) set which was somewhat marred by a boomy sound that often made the piano a blur of sound. I'm not a big fan of the samples that some of the songs lead off with but the ensuing playing makes it moot. The songs were mainly from the band's two releases and one commissioned piece from an upcoming Blue Note disc; he also threw in a Jaki Byard song (it may have been a medley but I recognized the solo piece that he started with as a stride number off "There'll Be Some Changes Around Here", at least that's what the title was on the Muse vinyl release); all were done very well to an attentive audience that filled the gallery. I wasn't enamored with Mateen's fretless electric bass; it had kind of a plunky sound that was strangely sterile; whether it was that or not, something seemed to make him the odd man out in the trio mix, at least to me. Waits' drumming was quite different from what he played with Brotzmann six and a half months ago, but enhanced the songs quite nicely. Moran's patter between songs was pleasant, although a couple of times he seemed to forget the point that he originally intended to make. He commented on the sun at the early concert time reminding him of practicing in his family's living room as a youngster after school; indeed he seemed fascinated by the light streaming into the gallery window. A nicely done set mixing fireworks with moments of introspection.
Linear Mode
