Jason Moran

For Soundtrack to Human Motion, jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran's 1999 leader debut, the musician balanced an impeccable technique with his love for the jazz tradition and influences drawn from classical, blues, funk, hip-hop, rock, and the art world. Critics immediately signaled his arrival as "the next big thing" and they weren't wrong. On 2000's Facing Left, he introduced his long-standing trio, the Bandwagon, performing a dazzling array of tunes from a wide range of sources. 2002's solo Modernistic explored 20th century rhythmic techniques through readings of boogie-woogie, classical, avant-jazz, and funk. Moran re-examined blues tradition on 2006's Artist in Residence, and 2010's Ten led to a MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. He later composed the score for Ava DuVernay's landmark 2014 film Selma. Among his other works is the partly Toni Morrison-inspired 2021 solo outing The Sound Will Tell You.