Jason Moran
Same Mother

(Blue Note Records)

www.bluenote.com

WOW has to be the first reaction to Jason Moran's sixth Blue Note album, Same Mother. It is an album exploring the common roots and key differences between jazz and blues peppered with avant garde flavors. Moran and his Bandwagon, drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen, introduce the newest addition to their group, Chicago-born guitarist, Marvin Sewell. There is fresh chemistry and curiosity in these compositions that is certainly not for the casual jazz listener with an attention deficit disorder.

Same Mother opens with "Gangsterism on the Rise" and closes with "Gangsterism on the Set" which are variations of his "Gangsterism" series inspired by painter Jean Michel Basquiat. In "Gangsterism on the Rise," Moran is heavy on the lower octaves and Waits is light on the drums. In "Gangsterism on the Set," the heavy lower octaves are there but Waits adds a marching parade flavor with the drums. In both, Moran's right hand displays his command over technique and improvisation.

The exploration into the connection of blues and jazz gets interesting in "Jump Up" and "I'll Play the Blues for You" where Sewell jams on the electric guitar and Moran and Mateen begin with traditional blues chord progressions. Then experimentation and originality set in and the rest is absolutely incredible but impossible to explain. You just have to listen for yourself. What is incredible about Moran is that he can take a classic like "I'll Play the Blues for You" and do more than just put his own spin on it. He creates a fresh new composition and in turn creates a new sound and this is his style.

"Fire Waltz" is more traditional jazz and serves as a great transition piece linking the first blues heavy half to the more avant garde second half. "Field of the Dead," "Restin'," and "The Field" make an incredible set swelling with emotion. "Field of the Dead" is Moran's interpretation of Prokofiev's Field of the Dead. It slowly creates a mood of desperation. "Restin'" shifts the mood to the realization of defeat and "The Field" rounds it out creating a sense of a peaceful compromise. This set is for those that have passion slithering around in their blood. Everything really should have ended with "The Field." Closing with "Gangsterism on the Set" tacks on a happier ending to the CD but is kind of a buzzkill to the light, yet deep, ephemeral mood of death.

Same Mother is an album about exploration and experimentation. Moran manages to create new sounds while remaining faithful to the underlying elements of both blues and jazz and classical for that matter.

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