Jason Moran is a prolific jazz pianist, composer and educator who was born in Houston, Texas, in 1975. He was encouraged to take an interest in the arts from an early age and began training in classical piano, attending Yelena Kurinets' Suzuki method music school from the age of six and immersing himself in his father's massive record collection. After a flirtation with hip-hop Moran switched his attentions to jazz in his early teens, studying in the jazz programme at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He continued his musical education at the Manhattan School of Music and under multi-instrumentalist Jaki Byard before joining Greg Osby's band for a time.
His first recorded appearance was on Osby's 'Blue Note' (1997) and Moran went on to appear on various future Osby albums. In the meantime, Moran's time with Osby led to a recording contract of his own with Blue Note, leading to 'Soundtrack to Human Motion', on which he was joined by Osby, drummer Eric Harland, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and bassist Lonnie Plaxico, in 1998.
'Facing Left' followed in 2000 and in 2001 Moran released 'Black Stars' with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, accompanied by legendary saxophonist Sam Rivers. 2002 saw a different approach to recording from Moran, with a solo album consisting entirely of piano recordings in the form of 'Modernistic'. He went on to release the live album 'The Bandwagon' in 2003, 'Artist in Residence' in 2006 and in 2010 he returned with the trio album 'Ten'. 2013 saw Moran release two albums - 'Hagar's Song' in collaboration with Charlie Lloyd and 'Refraction - Breakin' Glass' with Trio 3. The next year he teamed with Meshell Ndegeocello for 'All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller' and in 2016 he was a part of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project's 'Mason Bates: Mothership'.
Moran has also been involved in music education, working with institutions including the New England Conservatory of Music and the Kennedy Center. His family runs the Moran Scholarship Award for jazz students at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts as well as the The Mary Lou Chester Moran Foundation, another source of funding for music students.
