Stylistically, Moran's trio reflects the post-bop nuance rooted in, for example, Miles Davis' '60s-era quintet, with touches of abstraction. The playing is solid and crowd-winning, especially on Moran's straightahead compositions like "Gangsterism on Canvas." But like a DJ with turntables and a sampler, he sees the world as a gold mine of usable music and sound. Check the range in his choice of covers on Bandwagon: Moran's group emotively caresses Brahms' stately "Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2," offers up a version of the near-sacred jazz standard "Body & Soul," and closes the album with a wonderful take on Afrika Bambaataa's seminal "Planet Rock." These numbers show that, like his record-crate-digging peers, Moran listens widely -- but unlike his compositionally loping fusion and free-jazz forebears, his focus is sharp.
Furthermore, the pianist shows his hip-hop fascination with the human voice by basing two dynamic tunes on his literal melodic accompaniment to the taped voices of a young Turkish woman on the phone and a Chinese man giving a stock report. Moran's trio's performance on Bandwagon offers a brave yet respectful vision of what's next in jazz.
