Moran’s debut recording as a leader, Soundtrack to Human Motion, which found him in the company of Osby, Harland, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and bassist Lonnie Plaxico, was released in 1999 to great critical praise (Ben Ratliff of The New York Times named it the best album of the year). The association with Blue Note is fitting, placing Moran in the lineage of innovative pianist/composers whose career beginnings were nurtured by the veteran jazz label, musicians such as Monk, Herbie Hancock, and Herbie Nichols. Moran made his professional recording debut on Osby’s 1997 Blue Note CD Further Ado, which brought him to the attention of Blue Note executives who signed the pianist to his own record deal shortly thereafter. The connection between Osby and Moran was present as soon as they hit the bandstand, and Moran has become a fixture in Osby’s touring and recording bands ever since. Osby hired Moran based solely on Harland’s description of his playing, and the match proved to be auspicious. While Moran was still a senior in college, the drummer Eric Harland-a high school classmate of Moran’s-recommended him to saxophonist Greg Osby, who was in the process of assembling a band for a European tour. It was during this time that Moran also took lessons from other forward-thinking pianists such as Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill, creative musicians who imparted a profound influence on Moran and encouraged him to find his own distinct voice.
His aspirations and talents eventually led him to New York City where he continued his education at the Manhattan School of Music, a school to which he was drawn by the prospect of studying with the pianist Jaki Byard, a jazz leftist who became Moran’s teacher for four years and a role model for life. Moran went on to attend Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where he became an active member of the jazz program, playing in the big band and leading a jazz quartet. He began studying the piano at age 6, but longed to quit the instrument until he first experienced the sounds of jazz legend Thelonious Monk, an experience that renewed his interest in music and established an early role model in his creative development. Jason Moran was born Januin Houston, Texas.
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