Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical installations.

His parents, Andy, an investment banker, and Mary,[5] a teacher, encouraged his musical and artistic sensibilities at the Houston Symphony, museums and galleries, and through a relationship with John T. Biggers and a collection of their own.

[5] As a boy he developed a preference for hip hop music[7][8] over the piano until, at the age of 13, he first heard the song "′Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk at home,[9] and switched his efforts to jazz.

Monk's childlike melodies, with their many silent spaces, struck him as relatively easy to play and not overly ornate, while the rhythms were reminiscent of hip hop songs, and the harmonies unorthodox.

[11][12] He attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), graduating in 1993[13] from the jazz program headed by Robert Morgan.

[1][6] The next year he participated in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead exclusive workshop, composing the piece "Make a Decision"[16] for the final concert.

In 1997, when Moran was a senior at Manhattan School of Music, he was invited to join the band of saxophonist Greg Osby for a European tour, following a conversation that lingered mostly on older piano jazz, and no audition.

Moran's 2006 release, Artist in Residence, included a number of selections from different works commissioned by museums, all of which premiered in 2005: "Milestone" is centered on a visual work by Adrian Piper from the Walker Art Center;[7] "The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things" was incorporated into a preexisting installation of that name by artist Joan Jonas;[28] and "RAIN", inspired by ring shouts from African American slaves,[19] is a recording of The Bandwagon with guests Marvin Sewell, Ralph Alessi and Abdou Mboup.

[29] Moran's IN MY MIND, premiered in 2007,[30] is a multimedia presentation inspired by Thelonious Monk's 1959 "large band" concert at The Town Hall in New York City.

[31] A text-laden painting from Glenn Ligon extracted the words "In My Mind" - which Monk says on one of Smith's tapes – as did Moran, incorporating the soundbite into the set.

[3] It premiered in October 2008, and appeared[42] in their album Terra Incognita in 2010; it relates to Marie Thérèse Metoyer and Moran's family history in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

It features "Blue Blocks" off the Philadelphia Museum commission, "RFK in the Land of Apartheid", from an original score to a documentary film of the same name,[53] and "Feedback Pt.

[59] Participants in the fluid roster have included singers Meshell Ndegeocello, in a co-leader position, and Lisa E. Harris, drummer Charles Haynes' ensemble with trumpeter Leron Thomas and trombonist Josh Roseman, saxophonist Steve Lehman and bassist Mark Kelly.

[11][65] In April 2014 Moran and Imani Winds premiered Jump Cut Rose, which he wrote for the quintet and a piano,[3][66] In May, Looks of A Lot, a theatrical co-production with Theaster Gates on the theme of Chicago artistic history[47] premiered in the city's Symphony Center; participants included The Bandwagon, the Kenwood Academy Jazz Band,[67] Ken Vandermark and Katie Ernst, bassist and vocalist.

[69][70] In September he appeared twice in the Monterey Jazz Festival: Leading a Fats Waller Dance Party, in a one-piano duo with Robert Glasper,[71] and with Charles Lloyd New Quartet.

Presented as part of the Performa 17 biennial, this work took the audience on an intensive tour of Mehretu's canvas while Moran played his composition accompanied by Graham Haynes on coronet and sound effects, and Jamire Williams on drums.

He also performed with Marian McPartland,[74][75][76] Lee Konitz,[24] Wayne Shorter (as substitute),[77] Robert Glasper,[78][79] violinist Jenny Scheinman,[80] The Bad Plus,[81] guitarist Mary Halvorson and trumpeter Ron Miles,[82] drummer Herlin Riley,[83] Dave Holland (Overtone Quartet), and Bill Frisell.

[93] In 2015 Moran was appointed Honorary Professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he periodically conducts workshops and master classes.

[101] Another full-length documentary, Grammar about "jazz through Jason Moran" and genre boundaries, is in the making, after first director Radiclani Clytus had found funding in a 2012 kickstarter campaign.