Sunday, October 15, Neptune Theatre, 7:30pm Jason Moran:In My Mind

General admission $40 + fees Presented in partnership with Seattle Theatre Group “Thelonious Monk is the most important musician, period. In all the world. Period!” That’s pianist and jazz auteur Jason Moran, speak- ing to NPR about his Thelonious Monk tribute, In My Mind, a rarely performed, must-see event at the Nep- tune Theatre, which theNew York Times called a “stun- ning project – connecting with Monk beyond the sur- face of his music.” Jason Moran is one of the most important artists of his generation, a riveting and prodigiously talented pianist and conceptualist as well-versed in hip-hop as he is in Monk. He is a MacArthur Fellow and the Artistic Di- rector for Jazz at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center (a position previously held by Dr. Billy Taylor), where he directs numerous programs and spearheads initiatives to spread the music to new audiences. Moran has, in a few short years, dramatically expanded the vision of jazz at the Kennedy Center and nurtured an intensely creative scene at the iconic performance facility. Clearly, Moran is an artist who thinks large-scale, so when he created a tribute to Monk, he wanted to edu- cate and illuminate, as well as play some of the greatest music of the 20th century. Moran has an expansive, in- terdisciplinary vision as an artist, and he has created an evening-length, rigorously researched multimedia pro- duction, inspired by Thelonious Monk’s 1959 legend- ary Town Hall concert, which featured Monk’s music performed by a large ensemble. With In My Mind, Moran explores Monk’s music and creative process through video projections, recorded samples of Monk’s voice and rehearsals, and live mu- sic performed by his longtime trio, Bandwagon, which features Tarus Mateen on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums, supplemented with a three-piece horn section. True to the source material and imbued with the spirit of Monk, Moran’s project is reverent, but it’s not a mu- seum piece or a mere tribute—the music is alive and vital, changing and expanding with the perspective of the many years of jazz history that have accumulated since the original 1959 concert. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience a new perspective on some of the most important jazz ever created.

Jason Moran Photo Courtesy of the Artist

14 • Earshot Jazz • October 2017