Jason Moran, MacArthur Fellow 2010

Huge shout out to Jason MacArthur for being selected a MacArthur fellw for 2010. Here is the link to his bio: http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6241261/k.84C3/Jason_Moran.htm.

He is a great jazz piano player and probably the most innovative person in jazz for the past decade. His album Same Mother is simply brilliant. The song "I'll Play the Blues For You" is my most played song on my Ipod. (can be found at http://new.music.yahoo.com/jason-moran/tracks/ill-play-the-blues-for-you--14293929). If you have never understood how jazz musicians improvise by tinkering with the elements of a melody and rhythm to break it down and build it back up again. Just listen to this track and here how he adds and subtracts elements, notes, and beats. It really is an amazing song.

Modernistic and Bandwagon are phenomal too. Artist in Residence shows his range and his ability to take tremendous risks. "Artists Ought to be Writing" is a great example of call and response in that Moran's piano is having a conversation with a recorded interview or performance piece by Adrian Piper. It also shows his creativity and his willingness to reshape jazz music. I also think, via his sampling of Piper, that Moran suggests the linkage between jazz improvization and bricolage and hip-hop deejaying.