Jason Moran - Shards - VINYL LP

Quartet w. Dale Barlow on tenor saxophone, and Dav Williams on bass and Billy Higgins on drums, recorded April 21, 1985.

Double vinyl LP pressing. In 1999, the same year that Jason Moran released his debut recording Soundtrack To Human Motion, the pianist and composer also joined New Directions, a band made up of young stars from the Blue Note roster. At the core of New Directions was the genesis of a rhythm section-with Moran, bassist Tarus Mateen, and drummer Nasheet Waits-that would go on to become one of the most enduringly creative and acclaimed piano trios in jazz. The Bandwagon made their first recording as a trio with Facing Left in 2000 and has been the foundation of the majority of Moran's artistic statements since. On his 2010 album Ten, Moran celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Bandwagon with an assured album that was a snapshot of a mature band with a decade of shared musical experience from which to draw. In addition to provocative originals the album presented singular interpretations of pieces by Thelonious Monk, Jaki Byard, Leonard Bernstein, and Conlon Nancarrow. This first-time vinyl includes the bonus track InchTheloniousInch previously only available in Japan. Album Tracks 1. Blue Blocks 2. RFK in the Land of Apartheid 3. Feedback Pt. 2 4. Crepuscule with Nellie 5. Study No. 6 6. Pas de Deux - Lines Ballet 7. Study No. 6 8. Gangsterism Over 10 Years 9. Big Stuff 10. Play to Live 11. The Subtle One 12. To Bob Vatel of Paris 13. Old Babies 14. Thelonious

Invent yourself and then reinvent yourself. Change your tone and shape so often that they can never categorize you.Inch Charles Bukowski's poem, No Leaders, Please, is the driving ethos behind saxophonist Jason Gay. Never not still, Gay relentlessly explores the depths and exhausts every possibility of each musical rabbit hole he dives down. Born in Washington D.C. and landing in Hawaii during his service in U.S. Navy band, Gay leapt into the world of Chinese folk songs and it's mainstay instruments, including the er-hu, pipa and guzheng. In the mid-2010s, Gay spent four years transcribing, imitating, assimilating, and innovating these sounds. Emerging along his journey was a cast of musicians who eagerly helped Gay interpret compositions like InchJasmine FlowerInch or InchBlooming Flowers and the Full MoonInch into an often transcendental state of jazz. The group, known as the Hidden Dragon Quartet, was comprised of Gay, drummer Noel Okimoto, pianist Grant Carvalho, and bassist Ian Sheridan. Following these live engagements, Gay decided to enter the studio with co-producer Dean Taba. The result Dynasty, self-released in 2018 on CD and digital, featuring some of Hawaii's A-list players, including Tommy James on piano, Dean Taba on bass, DeShannon Higa on trumpet, with drummer Noel Okimoto, and featuring er-hu musician Tsun-Hui Hung and taiko master Kenny Endo. Eloquent and exuberant, the recordings delight in the spirit of these songs, offering an elegant introduction (or refresher, for the informed listened) to these compositions, many originally composed expressly for the er-hu, a stringed instrument likened to the West's violin. InchThis isn't about jazz musicians playing Chinese arrangements, or about positioning the erhu as a new sound in mainstream American music,Inch wrote music journalist John Berger in 2018 upon the CD's initial . InchGay and his musicians