Kendrick
Scott's World Culture Music is set to release Lotus, the much-anticipated
fifth album (& third self-produced project) from guitarist/composer Mike
Moreno. Moreno is a musician who has established himself on the global jazz
scene in a profound way, garnering high praise from critics, fans, colleagues,
and from none other than Pat Metheny and Mike Stern. As a leader, Lotus brings
Moreno's creative output to five recordings, and one could argue that they
should be considered must-have recordings for any serious collection.
Lotus,
featuring musicians that Moreno has a long and happy history with, pianist
Aaron Parks, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Eric Harland, is a documentation of
Moreno's most honest music to date.
"This is Aaron's fourth record with me," Moreno explains,
"and it sort of continues what we started on Aaron's Blue Note Records
debut Invisible Cinema, which featured both myself and Eric Harland. That was a
defining record for both Aaron and I, and everywhere I go, that's the most
talked-about record of my career to date. So in a way, this is part two of
Invisible Cinema. It certainly has the same appeal, a great band with a set of
melodic songs and the always strong rhythmic concept from Eric Harland."
"Eric, from Houston, like myself, also attended the High School for
Performing and Visual Arts, and we began playing on his visits back to Houston
after he moved to NYC. He was the first great drummer I played with. I still
remember feeling that force coming from the drums for the first time. It was
incredible. Lotus marks the first time Eric has recorded with me on one of my
own projects. It was long overdue." "Doug Weiss has been a part of my
band almost from the beginning, starting when he was one of my teachers at the
New School. I loved his playing and asked him to do some gigs with me when I
started to work with my own band. He ended up playing on my first two records,
and is just one of most solid bassists out there, always playing beautiful
supportive notes and exactly what is needed."
Lotus is
comprised of all original Mike Moreno compositions. Some were composed during
an artist residence that Moreno took part in at the Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit
Gardens, in Pocantico Hills, NY ("The Hills Of Kykuit" and "The
Empress"). The guitarist/composer explained, "The more I compose the
simpler my music gets and the more it sounds like me, rather than a mix of my
influences." "Can We Stay Forever?" is a ballad that didn't make
the cut for Moreno's previous release, Another Way, but fit very nicely in the
set for this record. The rest of the recording was written in the years since
Another Way was released in 2012. The most recent composition is
"Epilogue-The Rise", which was finished just a week before the record
date, and composed by Moreno specifically for this band.
Moreno
wants Lotus to be a recording that people from all walks of life can listen to
and enjoy over and over again. "This is meant to be a record you can
listen to like any other genre of music, whether your a jazz fan or musician, a
lawyer, whatever. It is an album of which I'm extremely proud, and I hope that
when the listener walks away from their computer, stereo, car, iPod, etc., that
these melodies stick with them, even after the first listen."
Originally
from Houston, Texas, Mike Moreno began studying music formally at the Houston
High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a school renowned for its
musical alumni, which includes such luminaries as Jason Moran, Robert Glasper,
Brian Michael Cox, Eric Harland, Chris Dave, Kendrick Scott, and Beyoncé. After
graduating he moved to NYC with a scholarship to attend the New School
University. While still in school he began getting calls to perform and tour
with some of the most venerable names in the jazz world, as well as rising
stars firmly en route to establishing their careers.
Recognized
as one of the leading voices in the jazz guitar world, Moreno has toured and
recorded extensively as a leader, playing original music to high critical
acclaim. As Nate Chinen describes in his column in JazzTimes Magazine
("The Gig"), "There are many other guitarists out there pushing
towards a modern ideal, but none with the precise coordinates that Mike Moreno
has charted."
Over the
years, Moreno has performed and/or recorded with numerous major artists, both
inside and outside of the jazz genre, including Claudia Acuña, Bilal, Terence
Blanchard, Ralph Bowen, Leonardo Cioglia, John Ellis, Kenny Garret, Robert
Glasper, Jimmy Greene, Stefon Harris, Frank Locrasto, Wynton Marsalis and the
Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jason Moran, Me'Shell N'Degeocello, Greg Osby
4, Gretchen Parlato, Aaron Parks, Nicholas Payton Quartet, Jeremy Pelt, The
Joshua Redman Elastic Band, Bob Reynolds, Kendrick Scott, Marcus Strickland,
Yosvany Terry, Myron Walden, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Lizz Wright Band, Sam
Yahel, and others.
Additionally,
Moreno has appeared on three Grammy-nominated recordings. In 2010 both Q-Tip's
"The Renaissance" and Geoffrey Keezzer's "Aurea" were
nominated for Best Album in their categories, as well in 2008, Eldar's
"Re-Imagination" received the same nomination in the Jazz Category.
In 2007,
Moreno released his debut CD on the World Culture Music label, Between The
Lines, which Chinen featured in The New York Times as one of his top 10 jazz
albums of 2007. He recorded his second and third albums, Third Wish (2008) and
First In Mind (2011), for the European jazz label, Criss-Cross Records. His
most recent album, Another Way, was recently released by World Culture Music,
and was named one of the 25 "Best of 2012" Jazz Releases on iTunes.
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