Artists Studio: Jason Moran

armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory

2022 ARTISTS STUDIO IN THE RESTORED VETERANS ROOM

JASON MORAN friday, may 20, 2022 at 7:30pm saturday, may 21, 2022 at 7:30pm Called “the most provocative thinker in current jazz” by Rolling Stone, pianist, composer, and artist Jason Moran was named a MacArthur Fellow and Downbeat Magazine’s “Jazz Artist of the Year” in 2010. He is the longtime curator for Park Avenue Armory’s Artists Studio, as well as Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center. Moran currently teaches at the New England Conservatory. Jason Moran’s activity stretches beyond his 15 critically acclaimed solo recordings and performances with masters of the form including Charles Lloyd, Cassandra Wilson, and the late Sam Rivers. His 21-year relationship with his trio, The Bandwagon—with Nasheet Waits and Tarus Mateen—has resulted in a profound discography for Blue Note Records and Yes Records, a label he co-owns with his wife, singer and composer Alicia Hall Moran. Moran keeps a close relationship with music and activism, culminating in his scoring work with film director Ava DuVernay on Selma and 13th. He also created and played the score of the Apollo Theater’s staged version and HBO’s adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ award-winning book Between the World and Me. Within jazz, his multimedia tributes to Thelonious Monk, Fats Waller, and James Reese Europe have shifted the jazz paradigm combining striking visuals, music, and history into evening-length works.

Moran has also collaborated with such artists as Adrian Piper, Joan Jonas, Glenn Ligon, Stan Douglas, Adam Pendleton, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker. Commissioning institutions of Moran’s work include the Walker Art Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dia Art Foundation, Whitney Museum of American Art, Harlem Stage, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2018, Moran had his first solo museum exhibition at the Walker Art Center, which traveled to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. In 2022, Moran was elected to the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Support for Park Avenue Armory’s artistic season has been generously provided by the Charina Endowment Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Marc Haas Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation, The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation, the Leon Levy Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg, the Richenthal Foundation, and the Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Armory's Artistic Council.

2022 SEASON SPONSORS

Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street

ABOUT THE ARTISTS STUDIO “…it was a block of music that made you think as the room does: Take Note. Listen deeply. The rest of the world is not like this…that sublime and exclusive room, almost too opulent for this world.”

— The New York Times Launched in March 2016 alongside the inauguration of the revitalized Veterans Room, the Artists Studio is curated by jazz pianist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Jason Moran and serves as a space for artists to experiment, collaborate, create, and push the boundaries of their craft. Previous Artists Studio programs have featured performances by: jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran; Dutch contemporary composer Louis Andriessen with pianist Jason Moran; American composer and accordionist Pauline Oliveros and noted author, director, and dream specialist IONE; pianist and composer Conrad Tao and multifaceted percussionist, instrumentalist, and composer Tyshawn Sorey; seminal drummer and acupuncturist Milford Graves and drummer and musician Deantoni Parks; artist Lucy Raven; groundbreaking sound designer Ryan Trecartin with his primary collaborator Lizzie Fitch, music producer and DJ Ashland Mines (aka Total Freedom), and composer/producer Aaron David Ross; acoustic ensemble Dawn of Midi; composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; tenor Lawrence Brownlee with pianists Myra Huang and Jason Moran; multidisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome; vocalist Dominique Eade and pianist Ran Blake with composer Kavita Shah; experimental composer Alvin Curran; internationally renowned composer, saxophonist, sound experimentalist, and mixedmedia practitioner Matana Roberts; pioneer of experimental music Charlemagne Palestine; art icon and DJ Juliana Huxtable; composer and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell; experimental composer, improviser, and performer Miya Masaoka; My Barbarian collective founders Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade; cutting edge visual artist Rosa Barba; Dominican accordionist Krency Garcia (El Prodigio); and trumpeter jaimie branch and visual artist Carol Szymanski.

NEXT IN THE SERIES RODNEY MCMILLIAN

CAMILLE NORMENT & CRAIG TABORN

october 15 Conceptual artist Rodney McMillian presents his musical performance Hanging with Clarence, based on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ 1985 commencement address at Savannah State University that was rich with conservative views on social programs, race, and sexual harassment.

Performed by McMillian and two back-up singers, the theater work uses Thomas’ speech as its text, while weaving in the artist’s music and poetry.

november 18 Pianist, composer, and electronic musician Craig Taborn is joined by multimedia artist Camille Norment as they return to the Armory after their debut in 2016. Using the physical elements of automobiles to launch in their exploration of space and sound, these two mavericks explore what is known and unknown in the world of sonic play.

armoryonpark.org | @ParkAveArmory

Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue at 67th Street