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Ras Moshe

1.What brought you to music?

I always loved music.Jazz especially,but many kinds of music. Its hard to describe why. It was just always there..its still like that!

I heard Jazz everyday in the house..that's not too unique because lots of young black children grew up around Jazz,but maybe they didn't like it for themselves even though they know about it.

2. Describe your role models, muses and mentors.

Hmmm...one good model for me was/is John Coltrane. He overcame certain personal issues and because he devoted so much time to the music he was able to make a living from it...and playing some very creative music as you know already! Politically some of my role models are Malcolm X and Amiri Baraka..they had/have the ability to move forward and recognize that Things Have Got To Change.

Billy Bang was a kind of musical mentor in that he taught me about dynamics and playing the personality of the composition. He had a song called "The Softness Of Light" and I was barreling through the thing like Ascension or something. He said"man,what's the name of the piece?" I said "The Softness Of Light",and he said "so what the hell are you doing?" It improved my playing doing workshops with him.

All the artists I listen to are muses and mentors for me..just by listening.If I name them all,that would take a loooooong time!

3. Describe your community of colleagues and audiences.

There are a group of us who play in different combinations. As far as my own bands I have a few. One with Jackson Krall,one with Rashid Bakr(Charles Downs) and Shayna Dulberger. One with Tor Snyder..and other formations with Hill Greene, Andre Martinez..Dave Ross,Tom Zlabinger,Kyoko Kitamura,Dafna Naphtali,Todd Nicholson.

The audiences are composed of many people of different cutural backgrounds and ages. I still have an audience from my Brooklyn days when I was playing Reggae too. Cultural Roots Reggae that is.

4.What are the important elements you apply to your personal approach to performance, repertoire and composition?

Sometimes I use composition,and sometimes I dont use any..I just start playing. Both are important directions. At times,I can't get some people to play the pieces I write,because they think composition is not free enough. Or they intentionally play them the wrong way..I'm still not quite sure why,but I always have a lot of fun when I play anyway.

5.What role does teaching have in your work?

I'm currently preparing myself to be able to pass this music on to young people..this music is a cultural legacy and passing on what you've learned yourself is one of the main functions of cultural/political/artistic activity.

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10
Interview

Getting To Know Ras Moshe

Read "Getting To Know Ras Moshe" reviewed by Dom Minasi


Ras Moshe is not a name most people are familiar with. If you listen to straight ahead jazz you probably wouldn't know Ras. Now if you go to some of the 'downtown' performances in New York City and Brooklyn you probably have seen him play. I heard him ten years ago playing Tenor Sax at the Sunday Night Avant Series hosted by Dee Pop at the now defunct CBGB'S. I listened very intensely because many feel free form players are ...

4
Extended Analysis

Ras Moshe: Outsight

Read "Ras Moshe: Outsight" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Outsight is a powerful release by multi-instrumentalist Ras Moshe, who is one of the mainstays of the New York City avant-free scene. The album was released by Straw2Gold Pictures, an eclectic organization that specializes in high-end sound production and has branched out with a record label. Straw2Gold's roster features a select group of artists, including guitarist Derek Bailey, poet John Sinclair, and guitarist-writer Eugene Chadbourne. Moshe certainly belongs in such illustrious company; he has devoted his life to keeping the ...

246
Opinion

Occupy Jazz! Occupy Wall Street!

Read "Occupy Jazz! Occupy Wall Street!" reviewed by Ras Moshe


Things have got to change! That is the cry being heard in the five boroughs of New York City, across the United States and, increasingly, in European cities too. All sorts of people from all sorts of social classes are at the protests--because the realization has dawned that eventually everyone will be impacted by the self-serving machinations of the Wall Street greed merchants and their allies in the world's other financial centers. It's great ...

308
Album Review

Ras Moshe: Transcendence

Read "Transcendence" reviewed by Robert Iannapollo


Saxophonist Ras Moshe has been gradually making a name for himself as one of the best of the fiery saxophonists of the New York underground. He's released a series of limited edition live recordings on the Utech label that have impressed those who have heard them (unfortunately a small number of people). Now comes Transcendence on the Kordova Milkbar label, not much more high profile than Utech but I suspect they may be a little more readily available.

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Multiple Reviews

Ras Moshe: Live Spirits, Vols. 3 & 4

Read "Ras Moshe: Live Spirits, Vols. 3 & 4" reviewed by Tom Greenland


Ras Moshe Live Spirits Vol. 3 Utech Records 2006 Ras Moshe Live Spirits Vol. 4 Utech Records 2006

Ras Moshe is a well known denizen of NYC's downtown scene, a beatific presence whose laid back deportment stands in stark contrast to the intensity of his musical delivery. A recognizable son of ...

207
Multiple Reviews

Live Spirits 1 & 2

Read "Live Spirits 1 & 2" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Don't let the simple packaging of Ras Moshe's new CDs fool you: Live Spirits No. 1 and Live Spirits No. 2 are rich with sound and spirit, an aural vision quest by one of the city's most important avant-garde saxophonists. Each CD consists of two long songs, giving the musicians ample space to build the music and follow where it leads them. Moshe's keen musical and spiritual intelligence is the guiding force throughout; his skills as a musician, composer and ...

127
Album Review

Ras Moshe: Into the Openess

Read "Into the Openess" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Saxophonist Ras Moshe is on the forefront of musicians keeping avant-garde jazz urgent and vital. Moshe comes blessed with a jazz pedigree: his grandfather played with Lucky Millinder, Earl Bostic, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others, and his father worked with Carlos Garnett, Stanley Cowell, and other musicians in the new music scene in Brooklyn. As a result Moshe is well versed in jazz’s past, but he uses his knowledge to envision the future. And he’s bringing as many musicians with ...

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Event

Dafna Naphtali, Michael Gregory, Jen Baker and Ras Moshe at Spectrum in NYC on January 3

Dafna Naphtali, Michael Gregory, Jen Baker and Ras Moshe at Spectrum in NYC on January 3

Source: Michael Gregory

Spectrum January 3, 2013 at 7:00pm 121 Ludlow St. New York, NY, 10002 Michael Gregory Jackson, Clarity, Circle, Triangle and Square” The opening “Clarity” begins with terse acoustic guitar arpeggios, keening flute and tenor, and then moves through an evenly-spaced upward tone row, following along a path outlined by Smith’s concept of rhythm units. The shock — at least to those solely weaned on improvised music — comes when Gregory spins out a delicate, ...

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Performance / Tour

Ras Moshe Continues Free Jazz from the Sanctuary

Ras Moshe Continues Free Jazz from the Sanctuary

Source: All About Jazz

Saxophonist Ras Moshe is on the forefront of musicians keeping avant garde jazz urgent and vital. Moshe comes blessed with a jazz pedigree: his grandfather played with Lucky Millinder, Earl Bostic, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others, and his father worked with Carlos Garnett, Stanley Cowell, and other musicians in the new music scene in Brooklyn. As a result, the New York City-based Moshe is well versed in jazz’s past, but he uses his knowledge to envision the future. And he’s ...

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