# CD review: Charnett Moffett – Bright New Day 2019: Videos, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/06/22/cd-review-charnett-moffett-bright-new-day-2019-videos-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-06-22T21:58:02+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Inspired by the electric periods of three chief influences – Jaco Pastorius, Ornette
Coleman, and Miles Davis – legendary jazz bassist Charnett Moffett’s Bright New 
Day represents a new chapter in his expanding legacy of jazz innovation. **

Internationally acclaimed for his pyrotechnic upright acoustic bass work on his 
own recordings and with a virtual “who’s who” of jazz, Moffett changes the game 
here, appearing for the first time exclusively with his fretless electric bass guitar
and a new powerhouse touring band featuring rising-star violinist Scott Tixier, 
keyboard specialist Brian Jackson (known for his innovations with Gil Scott-Heron),
drummer Mark Whitfield Jr, and electric guitarist Jana Herzen, a fellow Motema recording
artist who happens also to be the founder and president of Motema.

Bright New Day with its fusion of free-jazz, rock, and classical themes, follows
up Moffett’s acclaimed, ‘Music from Our Soul’ (Motema 2017) – feat. Pharaoh Sanders,
and his recent Nett Duo: ‘Overtones’ digital release with Jana Herzen.

Charnett Moffett’s seventh recording forMotéma Music and 16th as a bandleader overall,
the virtuoso musician spearheads a genre-transcendent program that explores a wide
range of sound, style, and emotion from the lyrical “Holy Spirit” and uplifting “
O My God Elohim” to the urgent funk-rock of “Free the Slaves,” (which features an
especially cathartic electric fuzz bass solo by the leader). Included in this potent
collection of eight originals are two Ornette Coleman/harmolodic-inspired jams, “
Netting” and the exhilarating “Bright New Day,” plus two thoughtful odes to the 
elements in “Precious Air” and “Waterfalls.”

The album represents a continuation in the leader’s explorative body of work, and
is uniquely distinguished from Moffett’s prior recordings by featuring him strictly
on fretless electric bass guitar. “After doing several tours in Europe with my electric
bass I found myself really motivated to do this,” said the artist, who has gained
much of his acclaim as an upright bass virtuoso. “I thought, ‘Why not do an all 
electric album?’ And so, I did. It’s definitely a different kind of record. We made
it in spirit and truth and it represents a new time of my life.”

Moffett’s signature soloistic quality is apparent throughout Bright New Day as he
unleashes melodies and riffs on the frontline alongside rising star violinist Scott
Tixier and guitarist Jana Herzen. Rounding out the exceptional new quintet is the
much in demand drummer Mark Whitfield Jr. and veteran keyboardistBrian Jackson.

The new unit has a strong ensemble feel with Herzen alternately doubling Moffett’s
electric bass lines and floating in half-time against the bubbling groove in classic
harmolodic fashion. “The bass and guitar represent the frontline, like a trumpet
and a sax, as far as the approach,” said Moffett. “If you check out the tune ‘Netting,’
it’s obviously Ornette-influenced and we’re approaching it as if it could be Don
Cherry and Ornette playing that melody.”

Tixier contributes sparkling solos throughout the album and engages in expressive
call-and-response with Moffett on a couple of tunes, including the buoyant 6/8 jam“
Set It Free.” Jackson’s contributions in the rhythm section are vital as he provides
the cascading momentum underneath the reflective “Waterfalls,” helps fuel the driving“
Free the Slaves” and channels his inner McCoy Tyner on his solo to “Holy Spirit.”

Whitfield demonstrates an interactive touch from track to track and slams with authority
on the funk rock-ish “Free the Slaves,” (about freeing your mindset) on which Moffett
contributes impassioned vocals and unleashes mind-boggling solo chops. Throughout
the program, Moffett stylistically alternates between lyrical, singing fretless 
lines and creative rock-solid grooves. Herzen, who is also the founder of Motéma
Music and has worked with Moffett in a variety of contexts, comments that, “Playing
in this ensemble is liberating and requires total presence. The music is not created
from a fixed position, so we have to keep our ears keenly tuned and react quickly
to each shift in the musical current.” Herzen’s vocals are also featured on her 
composition “Precious Air” which the leader included on the album to represent the
breath of life.

“I composed this album with intention to create emotional uplift and healing vibrations,”
explains Moffett. “Each composition came out of an emotional feeling that I needed
to express or address at an exceptionally challenging time in my life.” The album
is also an improvisational jazz experience that specifically explores the intertwining
relationships between freedom and structure. “Each composition here operates on 
a different set of musical laws that I asked the players to follow when using their
instruments to express the harmonies, rhythms, melodies and flows between structured
sections and improvisations.”

The recording is one of Moffett’s most fully realized to date and represents a new
chapter in his music and humanity. “For me, Bright New Day is an album that is both
for and about life, “he relates. “A story of feeling dedicated to any human being
in the world who’s ever lost someone they love… and also to any human being who’s
ever found someone they love.”

**Tracklist:**

1. Holy Spirit 5:01
 2. Free the Slaves 4:56 3. Precious Air (feat. Jana Herzen)
4:51 3. O My God Elohim 3:46 4. Set It Free 6:56 5. Waterfalls 6:52 6. Netting 3:
25 7. Bright New Day 7:43

![Image result for Charnett Moffett - Bright New Day](https://img.evbuc.com/https%
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