Charnett Moffett and His Musical Family

Charnett Moffett and His Musical Family
Charnett Moffett
Barry Bassis
9/3/2013
Updated:
9/3/2013

When bassist-composer-bandleader Charnett Moffett plays with his family and friends, he is invariably performing with eminent artists. Charnett was only eight years old when he first recorded with his father, drummer Charles Moffett (1929-1997). By the time he was 16, he was playing with Wynton Marsalis. Between 1993 and 1995, he was a member of Ornette Coleman’s group. (His name is a combination of his father’s and Ornette’s names. Charles had played in Coleman’s group during the 1960’s.)

Charnett has just issued two new albums on Motema, one a solo (“The Bridge”) and the other (“Spirit of Sound”) a group effort (though his playing and mostly his compositions are featured throughout).

While the idea of a solo bass recording might not sound especially appealing, “The Bridge” may change your mind. First of all, he plays three different instruments: fretless electric bass guitar, piccolo bass, and acoustic upright bass. To take one example, his rendition of “Eleanor Rigby” is far more inventive and compelling than the version on Broadway in the Beatles imitation show, “Let it Be.”

I attended the release show at the Jazz Standard for the “Spirit of Sound” CD. In the course of the set, Moffett demonstrated his virtuosity as well as his personal warmth. At the start, his wife Angela quoted Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” “If music be the food of love, play on.” And play on they did. Moffett’s music, filled with catchy riffs, is a mix of jazz and world fusion and he wrote all of the pieces on the album except for Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman.” Angela, playing tamboura, an Indian drone instrument, provided the foundation for much of the music. She also recited poetry to Charnett’s musical settings: Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers” (the belle of Amherst never sounded so soulful) and E. E. Cummings’ “Seeker of Truth.” The combination of poetry with a jazz background hasn’t been used much since the days of the beat poets and Langston Hughes, but, as “Spirit of Sound” demonstrates, it’s still a potent mix.

Moffett had three different singers, all performing wordless pieces. (Perhaps he was just following the line of the Dickinson poem that hope “sings the tune without the words.”) His daughter Amareia sang the tricky “Opera” in a pure soprano (rare for jazz). Jana Herzen (the label founder) was dancing as she vocalized on “Swing Raga” (on which Moffett’s piccolo bass guitar sounds like a sitar). The fabulous Tessa Souter sang “Ay yai yai yai” throughout “Natural Heritage,” which could be used as the theme of a spaghetti western. “

Moffett’s son Max played drums with Babatunde Lea joining in on percussion on some tunes. Label mate Marc Cary also performed on keyboards and Oran Etkin was equally fluent on clarinet (on “Hope”) and saxophone (“Overpass”).

Moffett ended the show with a solo bass piece, the opening track of the “Spirit of Sound” album, “Bassland.” He stretched out more than on the CD and worked in references to “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (perhaps to honor the 59th anniversary of the March on Washington and the “I Had a Dream” speech) and “Frère Jacques.”

If you want to hear one of jazz’s premier bassists, pick up either of his new albums, “Spirit of Sound” or “The Bridge,” and make the effort to catch him (and probably his family and friends) live whenever he appears in the area.

The Jazz Standard (16 E 27th St.; 212-576-2232) is one of those jazz clubs you can wander into almost any night and find worthwhile music (and good barbecue). Upcoming shows include bassist Scott Colley with saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Antonio Sanchez (9/6); guitarist Gilad Hekselman with saxophonist Mark Turner (9/7); pianist Robert Glasper with his trio (9/8-11); John Ellis Band (9/13-14); saxophonist (and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow) Miguel Zenon (9/15-18), Magos Herrera (9/20-21), Vijay Iyer Trio (9/22-25), , Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project (9/27-28) with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, pianist Helen Sung, and two vocalists, Nona Hendryx and Gretchen Parlato; and rising star singer José James (9/29-10/ 2). The Mingus Tribute Band appears on Monday nights.

 

Barry has been a music, theater, and travel writer for over a decade for various publications, including Epoch Times. He is a voting member of the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle, two organizations of theater critics that give awards at the end of each season. He has also been a member of NATJA (North American Travel Journalists Association)
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