Jason Moran, jazz pianist performs as part of the Arsht Center's Jazz Roots series in a tribute to Duke Ellington on Friday, March 21. (Photo by Patric McBride)
Jazz pianist Jason Moran and his wife, mezzo-soprano singer Alicia Hall Moran, team to perform in a Jazz Roots series concert paying tribute to Duke Ellington titled “The Music of Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings.” The pair will be accompanied by the Frost Jazz Orchestra from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami . The performance is at 8 p.m. Friday, March 21 at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
The concert is in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington, who was born in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1899.
“Ellington’s music is a text worth revisiting over and over like a good novel,” said Moran. “Ellington embeds so many layers of life in the music. For me, this concert is like taking a long hike up a mountain to a peak.”
Jason Moran has been a jazz pianist and a composer for more than two decades. In addition to jazz, Moran has also composed music in a variety of genres, such as blues, classical music and hip hop. (Photo by Patrick McBride)
Moran also said that Ellington was a superb pianist.
“His piano playing is full of depth and attack. When he was performing with his band, they charged and swayed, moving together through ancient choreography unlocking new and old mysteries.”
The musician also talked about Ellington's prolific songwriting.
“Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions, His extensive body of music known as 'big band jazz music,' was popular over his 57 year career."
Ellington performed in concert from 1917 until his death in 1974 at age 75.
Throuhgout his career, Ellington won 14 Grammy Awards for his music as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon in 1969. Ellington’s most well-known songs include “Black, Brown and Beige,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Cocktails For Two,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Mood Indigo” and “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
In concert, Maran will perform solo on piano “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good,” “Melancholia,” and “Reflections In D," among other Ellington compositions.
Jazz pianist Jason Moran and his wife, mezzo-soprano singer Alicia Hall Moran, team to perform in a Jazz Roots series concert paying tribute to Duke Ellington titled “The Music of Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings.” (Photo by Patrick McBride)
Moran will team with the Frost Jazz Orchestra on stage for “Braggin In Brass,” “Rockin In Rhythm,” and “Such Sweet Thunder,” among other Ellington songs.
Alicia Hall Moran will sing “I Like The Sunrise,” “In A Sentimental Mood,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” and “My Heart Sings” with the Frost Jazz Orchestra and her husband on stage.
Moran said his wife has been singing Duke Ellington's music since she was in high school and has family members who worked with Ellington.
". . .Notably singer Al Hibbler and composer Hall Johnson,” according to Moran.
Alicia Hall Moran made her debut on Broadway portraying “Bess” in the George and Ira Gershwin musical “Porgy and Bess” in 2012. The couple has been married since 2003.
Moran has been a jazz pianist and a composer for more than two decades. In addition to jazz, Moran has also composed music in a variety of genres, such as blues, classical music and hip hop. He has recorded 14 albums and composed the soundtracks for movies, including “Aggie” (2020), “Selma” (2024), “13th” (2016), and “Travelling While Black” (2019). He is also a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music.
The Morans are currently on a American cities concert tour of 12 cities playing the music of Duke Ellington until late March.
“I helped unfold the music of Ellington across the school. Ellington’s music relies on a collective identity. The students must know the language of the past as revealed in Ellington to help inform the language of the future,” said Moran.
If You Go
- What: Jazz pianist/composer Jason Moran and his wife, mezzo-soprano singer Alicia Hall Moran star in “The Music of Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings”, a Jazz Roots series concert accompanied by the Frost Jazz Orchestra from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
- When: 8 p.m., Friday, March 21.
- Where: Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami.
- Tickets: $40 to $130.
- Information: (305) 949-6722 and arshtcenter.org.
