Pianist Jason Moran & Vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello Team To Debut "Ain't Misbehavin" Ahead Of The September 16th Release Of His 'All Rise' Fats Waller Tribute LP Via Blue Note Records.
Pianist Jason Moran & Vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello Team To Debut "Ain't Misbehavin" Ahead Of The September 16th Release Of His 'All Rise' Fats Waller Tribute LP Via Blue Note Records.

REVIVE: Jason Moran & Meshell Ndegeocello Debut "Ain't Misbehavin" + 'ALL RISE' LP Pre-Order

Acclaimed pianist Jason Moran and vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello debut their collaborative take on the jazz standard "Ain't Misbehavin" ahead of the release of the ALL RISE: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller LP, arriving September 16th via Blue Note Records. The project produced by Blue Note president Don Was and Ndegeocello is the ninth full-length LP for Moran. The project features contributions from Nasheet Waits and Tarus Mateen of Moran's trio The Bandwagon. Other featured artists include trumpeter Leron Thomas, vocalist Lisa E. Harris, saxophonist Steve Lehman, trombonist Josh Roseman and drummer Charles Haynes. The project was recorded and mixed by the legendary engineer Bob Power, known most notably as the man behind the boards on classic hip-hop records from A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots. Moran commented on his motives for mining the catalog of Fats Waller:

“Fats Waller is a special kind of provocateur,” says Moran. “It stems mainly from the fact that he was a singer as well as a pianist. Sometimes he was like an MC. It has always amazed me that a pianist whose playing was so deep could sing and keep a running commentary of what was going on around him all at the same time.”

ALL RISE follows Moran's stomping revivalist performances of Fats Waller's party music, which found he and Meshell Ndegeocello shaking the floor boards of crowded dance halls with the celebrated pianist's seminal jubilant jams. Moran's Fats Waller Dance Party series began in 2011 and became the proving ground for the material that would ultimately make up this forthcoming LP. Moran discusses the experience and his decision to include Meshell in the project at such an early stage:

“The objective was to construct an evening-length performance in a space that lent itself to dancing,” explains Moran. “I asked myself what could be the extra layer, or the extra couple of layers, we might add to Fats' music to provide a number of different ways for audiences to enjoy it? That's when I reached out to Meshell. I wanted someone who could not only sing Fats' lyrics, but be free with them, and also a musician more accustomed than I am to dealing with a crowd that's on its feet. She was my only choice.”

Check out the track below to get a taste of "Ain't Misbehavin." Scroll down to check out the album track list. Pre-order ALL RISE: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller via iTunes. Get more on Jason Moran and the forthcoming project via REVIVE.

ALL RISE LP Tracklisting:

1. Put Your Hands On It

2. Ain’t Misbehavin’

3. Yacht Club Swing

4. Lulu’s Back In Town

5. Two Sleepy People

6. The Joint Is Jumpin’

7. Honeysuckle Rose

8. Ain't Nobody's Business

9. Fats Elegy

10. Handful Of Keys

11. Jitterbug Waltz

12. Sheik Of Araby / I Found a New Baby

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