Josh Moshier + Mike Lebrun
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about
- Josh Moshier and Mike Lebrun formed their band in 2007 out of vision for creating song-driven jazz for the millennial generation. Widely acclaimed for their high-energy and instantly singable tunes, in 2009 they were joined by Chicago guitar icon John Moulder. Their group has since given multiple performances at The Green Mill, Andy’s Jazz Club and Uncommon Ground, as well as concerts in Washington D.C., New York City and San Francisco. OA2 Records released their debut recording Joy Not Jaded in October 2009, which rose to the JazzWeek Top 100 radio chart for 10 consecutive weeks. In January 2011 the band premiered Josh Moshier's "Studs Terkel Project" at the Chicago Cultural Center, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "a work of considerable lyric grace and compositional forethought" and "a leap forward."
Awards
2010 ASCAP YOUNG JAZZ COMPOSERS AWARD (SONG: KING’S ROAD)
2010 UNION ARTS LEAGUE JAZZ COMPOSITION AWARD (SONG: WHO SHALL EXCEL THEM)
2009 CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA NEW JAZZ WORKS GRANT
2008 BEST SMALL GROUP SONG (JAMBO), INTERNATIONAL JAZZ COMPOSERS CONFERENCE
The BandJOSH MOSHIER, PIANO Josh studied piano and composition at Northwestern University, where he met Mike Lebrun. Josh directs the Wheaton College Jazz Ensemble and is a member of the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective. jmoshiermusic.com
MIKE LEBRUN, TENOR SAXOPHONE An award-winning improviser and composer, Mike has performed with numerous jazz groups as well as pop and rock sensations including Guster and The Temptations. mikelebrun.com
JOHN MOULDER, GUITAR Hailed by the Chicago Tribune for his “scorched-earth solos,” John Moulder is a veteran of the Chicago scene and a regular collaborator with drummer Paul Wertico. His latest release is Bifrost on Origin Records, acclaimed as a top jazz record of 2009. johnmoulder.com
JOHN TATE, BASS Backing leading jazz artists Fareed Haque, Steve Coleman, Dan Trudell and Von Freeman, John Tate is a player with soul, fire and groove.
JON DEITEMYER, DRUMS With a résumé including tours with Zach Brock, Grazyna Augusik and Kurt Rosenwinkle, Jon powers the Chicago original music scene with bands such as Ryan Cohan’s Sextet, Patricia Barber, Information Superhighway, Nia Quintet and Matt Ulery’s Loom. jondeitemyer.com
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- We're on JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater this weekend, broadcasting nationwide on NPR! Find out what time we're playing in your city with this handy link: http://www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/?prgId=20
- Tomorrow night we're in Evanston, birthplace of the band. (As Mr. Tesser points below, out our band is now 5 (!) years old!) http://www.chitownjazzfestival.org/sheil.html
- We're playing Saturday at the Chi-Town Jazz Festival - check out this video with footage of our Green Mill set at the '10 fest! www.chitownjazzfestival.org
- Tonight! The collective reunites with bassist John Tate at Andy's Jazz Club with special guest John Moulder! 5-8:30 pm, followed by the great Scott Burns!
- Next shows: February 24 & 25 at Andy's Jazz Club, featuring our great bassist John Tate (in from Brooklyn, NY)
- What a great weekend we had at Chamber Music America in New York. A big thank you to all of you who came to our showcase!
- Now printing: our CMA-exclusive CD recording of "Touch and Go," available at our performance on Jan 14!
- To our friends under age 25 - you can come hear us in NYC at the Chamber Music America conference and attend all 3 days for just $10! Here's the link: http://bit.ly/tyuUa3
- We're excited to head back to NY in January for Chamber Music America 2012, alongside Chicago friends Axiom Brass and Gaudete Brass Quintet!
- It's December! Perhaps no better time than now to add our cover of Sufjan Stevens' Sister Winter to your playlist...
- The gentlemen at Nextbop have featured our Sufjan Stevens cover "Sister Winter" on this week's Line Up - take a listen! http://soundcloud.com/mobrun/sister-winter
- Shedding time.
- We're headed to Brooklyn today for a weekend of collaboration and rehearsals - let us know if you're in the neighborhood!
- We've set up shop at moshierlebrun.com with lots of music and videos (the ".com" seems quite antiquated, but at least you know where to find us!)
- Working on string parts for a beautiful song by Jon Deitemyer - will be the next track on "The Local Colorists" EP!
- Follow Mike Lebrun on his 6-week adventure through NYC and Southeast Asia -- http://sabbeardical.tumblr.com/
- Hey Washington D.C. friends! Catch Josh and Moshier/Lebrun drummer emeritus Max Krucoff at Twins Jazz on Monday, 10/3! http://on.fb.me/n1qZkP
- It's Jazz Fest in Chicago! Come out and hear Moshier/Lebrun players Josh Moshier and John Tate backing the great trumpeter Marquis Hill this Saturday at 1:10 pm on the Jackson stage!
- We're playing a set this Sunday night at Jerry's to celebrate our bassist John Tate's birthday and acceptance to Juilliard. Come wish him well before he leaves for NY! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189258157807927
- Thanks to WPKN in CT for playing our song "Who Shall Excel Them?" on their show last Sunday!
- "We Will Go And..." featured on this week's Line Up over at Nextbop - take a listen! http://nextbop.com/blog/thelineupfor29july2011
- Back in the studio today!
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Mobrun at Chi-Town 2012
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press
- The Spirit Of Studs Terkel, Expressed in JazzChicago Tribune - January 25, 2011It takes a brave soul – or a foolhardy one – to create an extended jazz suite inspired by the writings of Studs Terkel, one of Chicago's most admired authors. Comparisons are likely to ensue, after all.
When the composer in question is all of 24 years old, the venture seems particularly cheeky.
Yet pianist Josh Moshier pulled it off Monday night at the Chicago Cultural Center, his new opus evoking Terkel's work in extraordinarily subtle ways. More important, the world premiere of Moshier's "The Studs Terkel Project" – commissioned by Chamber Music America – clearly represents a significant leap forward for Moshier and the quintet he leads with saxophonist Mike Lebrun.
More important, "The Studs Terkel Project" unfolded as a work of considerable lyric grace and compositional forethought. Not surprisingly, it hinged on dialogues among the players, as if recalling the conversations that were at the core of Terkel's writings and radio interviews. Give-and-take was everything to Terkel, and Moshier borrowed the technique for his magnum opus, which ran about 25 minutes.
Musical conversation, of course, is central to the art of jazz itself, which helps explain why Terkel was smitten with this art form. Moshier emphasized the point throughout his suite, which was built on several vignettes performed without pause.All About Jazz - November 17, 2009The Millennials are here.
Keyboardist Josh Moshier and saxophonist Michael Lebrun, a pair of Chicago-based jazz artists born in the 1980s, delve deeply into the jazz world with Joy Not Jaded. On this fine, high-energy set, the pair and their band craft a modern-leaning sound that remains true to the post-bop tradition.
The set of all original material—five tunes from Moshier's pen, six from Lebrun's—opens with Moshier's "King's Road," inspired by night drives on Los Angeles freeways (night being the only time any forward momentum can be achieved there). A repeated five-note piano riff introduces the sound that rolls into a smooth-flowing groove supporting Lebrun's round-tone tenor sax. "Finally Done, Still Frustrated," meanwhile, is a showcase of the band's ability with a beautifully reflective ballad.
A fellow Chicagoan, guitarist John Moulder, joins the core group on Lebrun's "Jambo" (the Swahili word for hello), shaping an ebullient, upbeat ensemble dance vibe that gives way to an introspective sax turn. "Eleven Toe Waggle" slips back and forth between two different grooves, in and out of shadows and dappled sunlight, with another nice Moulder contribution.
"Avocado Soul" (go figure on the title choice) features the group at its tightest, with Lebrun's sax sounding especially fiery in front of Moshier's electric keyboard and a group sound that shifts between grungy and sparkling. Call it sparkling grunge. "Known Unknowns" could be called garage jazz, with Moshier's electric keyboard sounding a lot like a Hammond B3 organ, even though it's not.
Joy Not Jaded, recorded in 2009, says that the so-called Millennial generation to which Moshier and Lebrun belong is here. The future of jazz is alive and well in this generation's hands.
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contact
- Booking:Coco Productions, Inc.P. O. Box 114 - Lansing, IL 60438E-mail: coco@cocoprojazz.comTel. + 1 708-474-3741Cell: + 1 708-527-5985Josh Moshier: jmoshiermusic@gmail.comMike Lebrun: mike@mikelebrun.com
