Born: May 17, 1986 Primary Instrument: Piano
Josh Moshier is a jazz pianist and composer. His music has been performed by the Joel Spencer Quartet, Dick Oatts with the Northwestern Jazz Ensemble and by Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge at the 2008 International Jazz Composers Symposium. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northwestern University, where he studied jazz piano with Joan Hickey, jazz arranging with Tom Garling and classical orchestration with Aaron Travers. Josh has written arrangements for Hal Leonard (All About Trumpet) and he composes music for Harpo Sounds (The Oprah Winfrey Show). Josh is a member of the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective, and he co-leads his own group with saxophonist Mike Lebrun. Josh was recently awarded a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, commissioning an extended work that will premiere in 2010. Joy Not Jaded, his new recording with Mike Lebrun, was recently released by OA2 Records in October 2009.
Awards:
Recipient, 2009 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant
Last Updated: November 17, 2009
Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide:
”Young jazz tends to go one of two directions in common form -- it can hold
strictly to playing through classic ideas as the players get the music of the
greats ingrained into them, or it can spin wildly out of control as the players
show off their instrumental mastery with little regard for a strong, original
melody. The Chicago quartet led by Josh Moshier (on outstanding keys
throughout the album) and Mike Lebrun (on sax) takes neither of the
standard tacks. Instead, Lebrun and Moshier craft straightforward but clever
pieces of melody, then use the band as a whole to ornament heavily around
the themes. The result is a surprisingly coherent sound, with clear and
intermingling parts, strong solos, and repeating motifs that let the full
ensemble shine together.”
