TEN

Jason Moran | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Label: BLUE NOTE
• Copyright: (C) 2010 Blue Note Records
• Total Length: 1:04:20
• Genres:
• ASIN: B003PNGEZ4
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,768 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten-acious Trio, June 26, 2010

By 

Scott Williams "sneakyneighborsdog" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ten (Audio CD)

Overview:

Ten celebrates 10 years of Jason's bandwagon band with a release of new songs and arrangements. While previous bandwagon CDs tended to be driven by a concept, this CD is just straight forward playing by the trio. Bandwagon is made of up Jason Moran on piano, Nasheet Waits on drums, and Tarus Mateen on bass. In my opinion Jason is the top jazz pianist playing today. Of course there are many other pianists equally deserving this title, but for my taste Jason is the best. His technical ability is phenomenal. He can solo equally well with both hands, and can solo with both hands at the same time. He has his own distinct style and personality which you can hear not only in his compositions, but also, in his arrangements of standards. His style is modern sounding, primarily post bop, but with a touch of free jazz, and avante garde. From both his playing style and compositions you can tell he is a deep thinker.

This is my favorite Jason Moran CD to date. The CD features 6 songs written by Moran, 1 co-written by Moran and Andrew Hill, 1 by bassist Mateen, 1 by Thelonious Monk, 1 by Leonard Bernstein, 1 by Jaki Byard (a former teacher of Moran), and 2 versions of a song written by Conlon Nancarrow. The CD has a good mix of up tempo songs, and ballads. The only area I see for improvement would be to write some bigger parts for drummer Nasheet Waits. He plays great throughout the CD, but doesn't really get a chance to show off his skills. Typically you see more opportunities for the drummer to show off their stuff in a piano/bass/drums format. Overall a great CD and a must have for fans of the piano/bass/drums format, pianists, and Jason Moran fans.

Song Highlights:

Gangsterism over 10 years - This song has a raucous Wild West swinging feel to it. It is more or less the bandwagon theme song. It features some wild soloing from Moran. During one flurry he probably hits every key on the keyboard.

To Bob Vatel Of Paris - This Jaki Byard song opens with a solo statement by Moran. The song has a very happy, "walk in the park", early 50's bebop sort of mood to it. After Moran's intro the bass and drums come in with a nice walking bass line.

Crepuscule with Nellie - In this Thelonious Monk tune, Jason Moran injects his own personality while still staying true to the original Monk tune. Mateen has a great bass solo in the middle of the tune, where the song almost turns into a blues vamp for a few bars. The song starts of very true to the original, then veers off for a little bit, and comes back to the original with a nice recap statement at the end.

Blue Blocks - This song starts of with a Sunday morning sort of feel, and picks up pace as it goes along. At one point there is a section with a barrage of cascading chords that is just wonderful. The mood again is up-tempo and upbeat. This is another great new composition from Moran.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Jazz album of 2010, April 5, 2011

By 

Dave "kida205" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ten (Audio CD)

Voted the best Jazz album of 2010 by the Village Voice Critics Poll, and certainly deserved it. Virtuoso playing with a heck of a lot of soul. This is where jazz is today.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars monk, know monk, the innards, November 15, 2011

By 

Case Quarter (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ten (Audio CD)

Ten is moran at his best. his style of playing finds space in unexpected places. foremost on compositions by thelonious monk. on Ten, moran describes his treatment of monk's Crepuscule with Nellie as tampering. monk's compositions command a scored approach, forcing musicians to interpret his work with the subtlety of say the best interpreters of a beethoven sonata, no matter how talented and original the sound of the artist, all of the notes scored are expected to be executed without deviation. moran more than tampers, he goes in like a surgeon or a focused bird of prey, a promethean eagle for particular viscera, slowly moving about parts, while leaving the body of monk recognizable as monk, but with a replaced organ or, to extend my metaphor, in removing the organ, his devouring becomes a form of borrowing, and when he's done with his improvisation, and flown away, the next musician to fly along has monk intact to contend with. i say Ten is moran at his best, but what takes place here is a group effort so neat seams do not show. call mateen on bass and waits on drums moran's wings.

moran's gangsterism pieces over a ten year span, inspired by the artist, jean-michael basquiat, are turning out to be variations on a theme of erato by andrew hill in the tradition of bach's Goldberg Variations. i suspect i'm not the only listener of moran's music to play his gangsterism pieces in tandem as they fly out the studios.

a single irritant, Feedback PT. 2, contains the deliberate overlay of feedback as tribute to the legendary jimi hendrix in concert. otherwise, a superb piano trio cd.