Music Diary Notes: Watch Full Concerts of Jason Moran and The Bad Plus for FREE!

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Each time I write a set of Music Diary reviews I try to find a clip of the artists actually playing music from the recording live. Typically what you find on YouTube is a single song, often of questionable quality – that is if you can find any live recordings at all. So I was thrilled today to find via an article at NPR that a music festival from earlier this year had released some full concert videos, with great

Even better is that that two featured artists were ones I had written about in this Music Diary review round-up: Jason Moran and The Bad Plus, two of the premier piano trio groups working today. The recordings are from the Rosslyn Jazz Festival held on September 11, 2010 in northern Virginia just outside of Washington D.C.

So let’s get straight to the music! Here is Jason Moran and the Bandwagon

Here is what I said about Jason Moran’s Ten:

Having the same trio for a decade allows for am amazing level of communication and interplay, which is evident throughout. It has been more than four years since the last record, but during that time Moran has been contributing to soundtracks and other commissioned works, which resurface here in one form or other. If there is one phrase I use often to describe younger artists I like, it is ‘looking steadfastly forward while maintaining a clear view of the past’. And that would perfectly describe this recording – not his best work nor the greatest at the pinnacle of 2010?s recordings, Ten is an excellent effort that I have enjoyed and listened to often since it arrived a few months back.

And here is The Bad Plus:

I was less enamored of The Bad Plus recording Never Stop, but the group is simply amazing in live performance:

The Bad Plus has had a bit of an identity crisis since its inception – are they essentially a ‘jazz piano power trio’. They are definitely a piano trio playing in a modern jazz style, yet they made a name for themselves as a rock song cover band who play very aggressively in a ‘power trio’ style. Their most popular recording, These are the Vistas, had only three cover songs – yet that was what drew the most attention. Throughout the years since they have balanced their recordings with a combination of originals and cover songs, with the covers always garnering more attention. Never Stop is their first all-original effort.

I hope that if you enjoyed any of the clips from the reviews, or even sampled the music, that you check these out. Both of these groups are amazing to listen to live, and exemplify why seeing jazz live is such a great experience. You don’t have big stage shows and bombast, you have amazingly talented musicians communicating at a profound level with one another and producing great music that might spring from the same core composition yet is unique each night and every time you hear them play.

Source: article at NPR

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

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