I feel like I'm a torchbearer for jazz, fostering its tradition but its future, too.

Jason Moran

Categorized in : Feel Tradition Jazz Future

I play a Monk song, it's like you get possessed. And then you have to break that spell. You have to remind yourself that you are an individual, or that you aren't Thelonious Monk.

yourself you play song

Tons of musicians who I love are imprisoned by their identity. That can be totally fine because they are so amazing in their technique, but for me, I'm a little too restless for that.

amazing me identity love

As an improviser, my nature is to take a theme and constantly rework it.

constantly take theme nature

I'm a bit of a traditionalist, but I kind of mangle things as I perform in a contemporary way.

things contemporary kind way

I am a huge fan of Adrian Piper: how she works, how she reveals her process in the work, how she writes about it.

she i-am process work

I have that huge print from Pollock by the piano because the influence is reciprocal. He was into hearing music while he created, and I sometimes do the opposite. I'm influenced by everything from an ant to a dream.

influence music dream sometimes

Pianos - if they don't like what you're saying, then they won't talk back to you. And you want it to talk back to you.

saying back you want

As a listener, we're looking for that person who kind of excites the molecules within us - who knows how to tell the story that resonates deeply to our core and almost prompts us into action. Fats Waller has been that person for decades. When people need a lift, sometimes they go to him. I know I do.

looking action sometimes people

Usually, when I see films that don't have any score attached to them, I think they're beautiful. I love just the naked sound of the voice. That's already music.

think music beautiful love

You make a record because you have to chart your progress, not only for yourself, but for your audience.

your yourself you progress

I'm lazy. I don't practice enough. I do other stuff. I'm not a musician's musician, and I don't necessarily know if I want to be. When I hear something and want to work on it, then that's what my project will be.

will know practice work

Jazz musicians don't make any money, so I might as well make some on the market. I pick my own stocks - Microsoft, Dell - the tech stocks, the breadwinners.

musicians own my-own money

Bjork's album, 'Homogenic,' it's got beats, strings, traditional Icelandic stuff. That's my benchmark for what an album should sound like, right up there with Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' and Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On.'

right like sound love

My killer crossover project would be to combine Bjork and Grace Jones with the West Coast rappers and create this massive music. That's, like, one of my dreams.

create dreams music grace

I used to watch those rock videos where they would chainsaw the piano. And I thought, 'That's what I want to do.' I thought classical music was corny.

rock thought music want

From being a teacher and educator, I see the state of the music through the eyes of an 18-year-old coming on to the scene, and we want to make sure it stays intact. With my generation, it's our duty to do that.

generation eyes music teacher

I kind of want to get the music back on a road it hasn't been on for a while. I want to promote the arts as part of the American diet.

road diet back music

Confidence is the key. When you're playing something new, find the part you know very well and play it really strong. That'll make you believe that you really do know it.

you confidence strong believe

I see how people look at me, all around the world. They see something because of the race I belong to. I have to understand that and put it into my music.

look me music people

I grew up with KTSU, and that station gave me so much info about the pantheon of black sounds: reggae, gospel, blues, soul, hip hop, and mostly they played jazz. That was a major part of how I understood music.

me black music soul