Journalist, Political Reporter, Cultural Critic, Editor/Proofreader
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr
August 2015
Interview:
Charnett
Moffett
By Alex Henderson
When Blue Note Records released Charnett Moffett’s first album as a leader, Net Man, in 1987, he was best known for playing the upright bass in trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ postbop quintet. The album came as a surprise, showing Moffett’s proficiency on both acoustic and electric bass and demonstrating that he was not a purist when it came to jazz. Moffett (whose father was late drummer Charles Moffett) has gone on to record over a dozen albums as a leader and his far-reaching catalogue has included everything from straightahead postbop and fusion to avant garde jazz. Since 2008, Moffett has been recording for vocalist Jana Herzen’s Harlem-based label, Motéma Music: his two most recent releases are The Bridge, an album of unaccompanied solo bass, and Spirit of Sound, which underscores his interest in world music and incorporates traditional Indian instruments. Moffett also has a long list of sideman credits and worked extensively, like his father, with the late jazz innovator Ornette Coleman. During a recent interview in late June, Moffett (now 48) reflected on his diverse contributions to jazz and Coleman’s recent passing.
The New York City Jazz Record: 28 years have passed since your first album as a leader. In what ways have you grown as a bassist and as a composer since then?
Charnett Moffett: It’s always a work in progress. The creative process, the imagination, how you’re putting music and sound together—it’s an adventure. It’s endless. It never stops. My great friend Ornette Coleman used to tell me that creativity is a journal and it’s so true because as long as you have an open mind, you can create any kind of musical environment that is appropriate to how you’re feeling and what you want to share artistically. Things advance with technology and it’s the same with music. You have to advance. I’m playing with a different understanding now than I had 30 years ago. Also, I’m playing a lot more electric bass now. I played the electric bass 28 years ago on my first record, but I seem to be doing it a lot more now. And I’m experimenting more with Eastern sounds and instruments like the tamboura.
TNYCJR: They are a major influence on Spirit of Sound.
CM: I have a huge love for Eastern music, which is why I have all those Eastern sounds in my recordings. I listened to Louis Armstrong a lot when I was a kid, but what happens is that even though you appreciate something, you get other interests. That doesn’t mean that you stop appreciating something—it just means that you get other interests. I still love Louis Armstrong, but now I love Ravi Shankar as much as I love Louis Armstrong—and I love Jimi Hendrix as much as I love Ravi Shankar. I love Miles Davis as much as I love Ornette Coleman. It goes full circle and you just have to be true to yourself and have a good time while you’re doing it.
TNYCJR: The Eastern influence is one of the things that still attracts many people to John Coltrane’s music.
CM: If it sounds good, it sounds good. If it moves you, it moves you. And there are different levels of that. I used to be in a rap band. When I met Wynton, my name was MC Net. I was a rapper and I was in a group called the Devastating Crew. I’ve been through a lot of different phases in my life: I’ve made records that were smooth jazz; I’ve made records that were free jazz; I’ve made solo records; I’ve made straightahead records; I’ve made fusion-oriented records. At some point, all of our physical existences will come to a conclusion—no matter who we are, no matter what race we are, no matter how rich or poor we are. But the spiritual is eternal just as creativity is eternal. I just had my 48th birthday on the 10th of June and then the following day, I found out that my buddy Ornette had died—or moved on to another dimension, I should say. Because Ornette is living, believe me.
TNYCJR: In what ways will his impact on jazz remain?
CM: Ornette arrived on the jazz scene in the ‘50s and there are so many different musicians who have been influenced by him—people who play jazz as well as classical musicians and composers. With Ornette, we’re talking about one of the greatest composers of our time. Ornette was someone who had so much integrity and belief that he was able to create his own system known as Harmolodic music. I grew up with that system, playing in the Moffett family band. My dad used to talk about that and about having the freedom to play what you want to play and the discipline to execute it. The process is ongoing. You don’t get to a certain point and say, “OK, I’ve got it now. I can stop.”
TNYCJR: Comparing your two most recent albums, one can see a lot of diversity.
CM: Oh, yeah. The music on The Bridge is solo bass. You have to remember that these instruments are just machines and it’s up to the player to tell the machine what you want to play and what you want to express. There are rules and traditions, but you can arrange things to the sound and frequency you want. So it’s really about knowing how to use your instrument. Spirit of Sound has mostly original music except for one song that I didn’t compose—which is “Lonely Woman” by Ornette. The Bridge has some of my original music. I think that’s the biggest difference—at least compositionally—between those two records.
TNYCJR: Who are some of the masters of electric bass who have inspired you the most over the years?
CM: That’s very easy: Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius, without question. But I never wanted to sound like them. I was inspired by their greatness, but when I was coming up in the ‘70s. I loved the way that Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire performed. I loved [Motown legend] James Jamerson and [Sly and the Family Stone’s] Larry Graham. They were reallygreat electric bass players.
TNYCJR: The number of people in jazz who have been able to move back and forth between the electric bass and the acoustic bass is a pretty small number when you think about it.
CM: That’s true. You know, Jaco Pastorius and I spent a lot of time together hanging out in New York City. Jaco was one of the most beautiful human beings I ever met. I learned a lot from Jaco, who also played upright bass—he just chose not to do it on his records. Stanley, on the other hand, I remember seeing him in 1978 in Berkeley, California; he was promoting his Modern Man album at that time and when he picked up an upright bass and played it in a solo capacity, I was like, “Wow, he can also do that. I want to be like that—I want to be able to play the electric bass and the acoustic bass.” And 37 years after that concert, I’m now doing it. I’m very thankful to Stanley and Jaco because you have to learn from the masters.
TNYCJR: You’ve been with Motéma Music for seven years now.
CM: I’m very thankful that I have found a label that has allowed me to bring my artistic creativity to new horizons. And I think that’s a beautiful thing. If you look at Miles Davis, he was on Columbia for a huge chunk of his career—and he was able to go from one era to another at Columbia. It’s great to have that kind of a support system. I think the big advantage at Motéma is the fact that the president of the company is a singer/songwriter in her own right. That’s a huge plus.
For more information, visit charnettmoffett.net. Moffett’s NeTTWork Trio is at Iridium Aug. 13th-16th. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:
• Wynton Marsalis—Black Codes (From The Underground) (CBS-Columbia, 1985)
• Tony Williams—Angel Street (Blue Note, 1988)
• Charnett Moffett—Planet Home (Evidence, 1993-94)
• Ornette Coleman’s Sound Museum—Hidden Man/Three Women (Harmolodic-Verve, 1996)
• Charnett Moffett—For the Love of Peace (Piadrum, 2003)
• Charnett Moffett—The Bridge (Solo Bass Works) (Motéma Music, 2009)
Copyright 2022 Alex V. Henderson. All rights reserved.
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr