Community Room: First Fridays Concert w MICHAEL MOSS and ZONE, June 7, 8 pm

MICHAEL MOSS AND ZONE

Michael Moss
As a reed player and band leader, multi-instrumentalist and composer Michael Moss has played with a large eclectic group of musicians including Billy Stein, William Parker, Vishnu Wood, Sam Rivers, Dave Liebman, Dave Burrell, Michal Urbaniak, Richie Beirach, Paul Bley, Annette Peacock, Badal Roy, Bobby Moses, Armen Halburian, Mike Mahaffay, Jackson Krall, George Brown, Jimmy Madison, Sabir Mateen, Mark Hennen, Burton Greene, Bob Telson, John Shea, Laurence Cook and Greg Kogan. He has studied music of the Middle East, India, Senegal, Ireland and Europe to work them into the jazz tradition of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Cecil Taylor, all in an effort to truly understand World Music. He has traveled to India, Sri Lanka Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Thailand where he worked with the finest musicians. Moss has also worked with a number of established modern dancers including Judith Moss, Rosalind Newman, Beth Soll, Leslie Satin and others.
Most recently Michael has been composing a number of new pieces for small group and has written a composition for chorus, Can We Forget Being Born Remembering? inspired by Louisa Bieler’s sestina. The Hebrew portion of the piece is the cantillation of the third chapter of the book of Eicho (Lamentations).
Moss is following a life-long passion for expanding jazz improvisation to include musical traditions from around the world and has written original music to reflect these different ethnic traditions. Moss will be releasing a duo CD in the very near future with Billy Stein.

Mel Nusbaum : Pianist, Guitarist and Composer
Exciting and creative, originally from Chicago (played blues with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Mike Bloomfield, jazz with John Klemmer and Hart McNee); Madison (co-founded the Original Imitations and Sebastian Moon; played with Michael Moss, Ben Sidran, Roscoe Mitchell); currently lives in the New York area; has played jazz, funk, latin and fusion with the groups of Cecil Payne, Harold Ousley, Chico Hamilton, Howard McGhee, (including McGhee’s big band with George Coleman), Cliff Dukes, The Brecker Brothers, Booker Ervin, Tom Malone, (producer of Mel’s first album, “Further Adventures of Sebastian Moon” with pianist Jose Hunt, drummer Rudy Lawless, and saxman Joe Ferguson). He has played guitar and enhanced the groups of Ted Curson, Lonnie Smith, Milt Larkin, Bill Hardman, Patato Valdez and many others.
Mel is a very rhythmic player, at home in a hard driving rhythm section. He has played with some of the great drummers, including Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Al Drears, George Brown and Charlie Persip; pianists such as Harold Mayburn, Billy Taylor, Toshiko Akioshi, Joanne Brackeen, Richard Wyands, and Sir Roland Hanna. His bass mates have included Reggie Workman, the great Jimmy Garrett (musical director of the Supremes), Wilbur Bascomb (Aretha’s bassman), Vishnu Wood, Paul Ramsey, Marcus MacLaurine, Stanley Banks and Mike Richmond.
Not content to stay in one place musically or mentally, Mel counts versatility as one of his traits. He has backed up the “Clown” Prince of Bebop, Babs Gonzales; played 50’s doowop with the Crests; jammed with Roland Kirk; played at the Newport Jazz Festival with John Garvey’s U of Illinois big band. For a while, Mel could be found playing with funky jazz groups in the clubs of Harlem, and latin groups in the Bronx after hours scene. Later on, Mel formed the Sounds of Space, a jazz/pop fusion group, and played the downtown loft scene. His group included veteran sidemen John Purcell, Wilbur Bascomb, Stanley Banks, Steve Butler and Jimmy Madison.
Mel has stepped forward as a composer with several additional albums to his credit: “Phasing In…”; “Another Side of the Moon”; and “Our Love” which feature Mel’s original compositions. Samples of his creative music, poetry, dioramas and videos are at www.sebastianmoon.com. Mel says, “Lately, people have reacted positively to some of my new tunes. I’m encouraged and am looking for new ways to express these creative feelings.”

Billy Stein: guitar
For the past 30 years, native New Yorker guitarist and composer Billy Stein has been involved in multiple music scenes in and around NYC, including R&B, funk, blues, rock, salsa, bossa nova, as well as both mainstream and free jazz. The many eclectic musicians he has performed and recorded with include legendary bassist Milt Hinton, mainstream jazz icon Sahib Shihab, Latin composer Joe Blanco, the rock group The Coasters, and free-jazz drummer Rashid Bakr. Stein recently recorded the critically acclaimed CD “Hybrids” and is a recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Billy and Michael Moss will be releasing their duo CD in the very near future.

Robert Edwards: electric bass
Robert Edwards has been performing in Chile for many years. He recently moved to the New York area where he has begun playing with ZONE and other groups.

Lou Selmi III: drums
Lou Selmi studied with Tony Williams. He has been a steady performer on the Philadelphia scene for 30 years and now resides and now works in the New York area.

Yogui: congas, percussion
A central figure on the scene in Jersey City for many years, Yogui centers the rhythm section, he is the coherent force, he is the downbeat, the upbeat, of ZONE.

Contact:
Michael Moss – m2moss@att.net>
646-691-4330
Website: http://www.m2-theory.com
More Info: https://westbeth.org/artist/michael-moss-musician/