m2theory

Michael Moss

As a  reed player and composer, Michael Moss has been actively involved in the music scene for many years, leading his own musical groups including Mike Moss/4 Rivers and Free Energy.  Moss is President of 4th Stream Records and ERG Publishing, past-President of Free Life Communication (a musician’s cooperative in NYC), and former Music Director of Loft in the Sky Jazz Festival in Lexington, NY.  Moss has been the recipient of numerous Meet the Composer and NYSCA grants.  His label, 4th Stream Records, has produced multiple LPs, cassettes, and CDs.  Michael is now engaged in a deep study of Jewish liturgical music and recently collaborated with Cantor Michael Kasper.

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, Rashid Bakr, Ras Moshe, Steve Cohn, William Parker, 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–jazz standards and original music written in the blues, South American, and up-tempo jazz genres.

To simplify, here are the cats I played and worked with in general categories of instrument and genre:

Guitar:  Gabby Abularach, Rick Iannicone, Billy Stein, Mel Nusbaum, Stanley Dorn, Jack Bowers, George Stavis.

Piano:  Richie Beirach, Paul Bley, Bob Telson, Greg Kogan, Mel Nusbaum, Annette Peacock, Burton Green, McCoy Tyner, Dave Stoler, Ben Sidran, Jack Bowers, Dave Burrell, Steve Cohn, H. Baron Moss, Mark Hennen, Peter Lemer.

Bass:  William Parker, John Shea, Mario Pavone, Cameron Brown, Wilbur Ware, Peter Matthews, Robin Edwards, Billy Fletcher, Noah Young.

Drums:  Elvin Jones, Jackson Krall, Laurence Cook, Armen Halburian, Bobby Moses, Mike Robert Mahaffay, Badal Roy (tabla), Dan Scholnick (tabla), Lenny Seidman (tabla), Jimmy Madison, Nasheet Waits, Rashid Bakr (Charles Downs), Muruga, George Brown, Myron Cohen, Selwyn Lissack.

Reeds/Saxophones/flute/clarinets:  Billy Harper, Ras Moshe, Sabir Mateen, Dave Liebman, Sam Rivers,  Eliot Levin, Mark Whitecage, Blaise Siwulla, Michael Lytle, Perry Robinson, Richard Keene, Gary Alderman.

Brass/trumpet/trombone:  Roy Campbell, Ralph Denzer, Marty Cook.

Vocalists:  Bobby Harden, Annette Peacock, Jay Clayton, Kelly DeHaven, Gloria Tropp, Eve Zanni, Arlene Gottfried.

Strings/violin/cello:  Louisa Bieler (v), Mikko Mikkola (v), Michael Urbaniak (v), Sarah Larsen (v, french horn), Martha Siegel (c), Wyldon King (v), Toni Marcus (v).

Puppeteers:  Ralph Lee, Bread & Puppet Theater.

Storytellers/poets:  Diane Wolkstein, Regina Ress, Robin Bady, Eliot Levin, Kirk Nurock.

Dancers:  Judith Moss, Rosalind Newman, Beth Soll, Leslie Satin.