Pianist Jason Moran released Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington, a Bandcamp-only solo album, on August 7. Reviewing the record for NPR's Fresh Air, jazz critic Martin Johnson said Moran's versions of Ellington standards are denser and more rhythmically insistent than the originals, closer to a conversation between the two musicians than a faithful cover. On "I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," Johnson noted, the recording is as much Moran's own style as it is Ellington's melody.
The album continues a pattern in Moran's career: over the past twenty years he has released tribute records built around Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller and James Reese Europe, each one less a faithful rendition than a way of finding common ground with the composer. On "Black and Tan Fantasy," Moran plays deep into the piano's lower register to suggest the depth an entire Ellington orchestra would have carried, while "Fleurette Africaine" takes the opposite approach, lightening his usual touch to let the piece breathe. His take on Billy Strayhorn's "Lotus Blossom" nods to Ellington's own tribute to his songwriting partner on the 1967 album ...And His Mother Called Him Bill.
Moran turns to Ellington's "Jeep's Blues" next, a piece built around a celebrated Johnny Hodges alto saxophone solo on the original recording. Johnson said Moran captures its stately grandeur on solo piano while keeping his own rhythmic insistence, seeming to nod to Hodges' phrasing along the way.
Moran closes the record with an original, "Means," which Johnson described as evidence of how deeply Ellington's music has shaped Moran's own compositions rather than simply serving as source material. The album arrives amid a broader run of jazz tribute records built around new original material, including Tyshawn Sorey's recent tribute to Max Roach, Steve Lehman's tribute to Anthony Braxton and Dave Douglas' Ellington-inspired Gifts ensemble.
Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington is out now, joining the rest of the week's new jazz releases tracked on the release calendar.
The facts
- New solo album "Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington" released exclusively on Bandcamp
- Closes with an original composition, "Means"
- Follows past Moran tribute albums built around Thelonious Monk and Fats Waller
- Includes a solo rendition of Ellington's "Jeep's Blues"
- Arrives alongside recent tribute albums from Tyshawn Sorey and Steve Lehman
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