Ra Kalam BOB MOSES

Biography

Drummer, composer, artist, poet, dancer, visionary, nature mystic: Bob Moses's life has been a continuous quest for vision, spirit, compassion, growth, and mastery in a multiplicity of art forms. A partial list of stellar musicians Bob Moses has worked and/or recorded with both as a leader and a sideman includes: Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jim Pepper, Larry Coryell, The Free Spirits, Dave Liebman, Gary Burton, Keith Jarrett, Steve Swallow, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Paul Bley, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, Jaco Pastorius, Hal Galper, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Steve Kuhn, Sheila Jordan, Bobby McFerrin, Dave Sanborn, Bill Frisell, Eddie Gomez, Don Alias, John Scofield, Terumasa Hino, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Hermeto Pascoal, Jovinos Santos Neto, Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, Chucho Valdes, Jimmy Slyde, Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Stan Strickland, Tiger Okoshi,Nana Vasconcelos, Obo Addy, John Medeski, Vernon Reid, DJ Logic, Badal Roy, Robert Pinsky, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, free master guitar genius Tisziji Muñoz, and many others.

As a composer

Ra Kalam Bob Moses has composed, arranged and produced countless albums for himself and others, many of which have been hailed by critics worldwide. The albums Bittersuite in the Ozone, Time Stood Still and Love Everlasting (the latter recorded with guitar genius Tisziji Munoz) all received five stars in Downbeat.

As a teacher

Ra Kalam Bob Moses conducts workshops in both Europe and the U.S. and is currently jazz faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Quotes

"Ra Kalam Bob Moses is a great and most loyal and humorous Spirit-friend… A great and most sympathetic, intuitive and multi-gifted musician, A great and most creative drummer, dancer and composer, A great and most grateful student of my heart sound teachings and blessings, and a great and most sensitive hearer of heart songs. In my tribe, this great spirit is known as Ra Khalam, Sun Sound." 

(Tisziji Muñoz)

"It's always good to speak about a musician such as Bob Moses who has so much creativity, lightness and energy. He is without a doubt one of the greatest drummers in the world." 

(Hermeto Pascoal)

"Bob Moses has an inspirational, one world approach to the music we play called jazz… he is a learned, erudite musician who has lots of fun on his many instruments. He is circumspect. He listens to the world around him and recreates it in a world of music, made in America, a national treasure."

(Abbey Lincoln)

"If you have witnessed his performances or his band leading you have been blessed." 
(Billy Martin)

"As a personal friend and musical peer, I've collaborated with Bob and listened to him perform with some of the greatest names in Jazz. I feel that Moses is a fresh innovative artist who's talent deserves much wider exposure and recognition on the national and international creative music scene."
(Jack DeJohnette)

"He was my first mentor… Moses is a rarity in this period; a true individualist, uncompromising, far reaching in his concepts and in all ways a true artistic person." 
(David Liebman)

"I am very grateful that Bob Moses landed at this place and time to grace our world with his openness, ingenuity, power, beauty, wit and immense creativity. His gifts to music are many. He inspired me when I was just starting to write and he continues to inspire me now. I'll always be anxious to hear where he takes us next."
(Maria Schneider)

"Bob Moses' playing is like the elements. Like the air he is everywhere and nowhere. He plays everything and nothing."
(Thomas Hebb)

Album Reviews

When Elephants Dream of Music

"Bob Moses, composer, drummer, poet, artist, conceptualizer, inspirer of people, has created a musical environment that is balanced between discipline and freedom, compositional design and spontaneous inspiration. A party with a purpose. This album is original, soulful, funny… and very special. I hope a lot of people get as much enjoyment from it as I have. "
(Gil Evans)

“Bob Moses has now emerged as the possessor of one of the grander imaginations in America's true classical music. No orchestral composer of this scope, mellow wit, and freshly distinctive range of colors has come along since Gil Evans.” 
(Nat Hentoff, Modern Recording and Music)

The Story of Moses

"With The Story of Moses, he has realized a masterwork of conception and sound. Adventure, originality, innovation and wisdom abound throughout this recording, an epic work by an ever growing and deepening artist. For me this is easily one of the most important and satisfying records of the past decade." 
(Pat Metheny)

“It’s powerful music and stirring text, will both enchant and challenge listeners. It delights the ear, presenting a Biblical story in a manner that is at once all encompassing and strikingly idiomatic. Employing blues, gospel, bop, ‘music concrete’, African juju, rock, funk, hip hop, Balinese, Latin and other musics yet undefined, this record has a singular undeniable charm... an album so rich with successfully executed ideas and superhuman playing that singling out its highlights is a difficult task.”
(Russ Summers, Jazziz)

Bittersuite in the Ozone

"This is true soul music, with the soul of Bob Moses shining forth from every facet of this production. The measure of pleasure and insight one derives from Bittersuite in the Ozone in large depends on the openness of one's own ears, mind and soul. To say that it's one of the most important albums of the year is a cliché. This album is cliché-free."
(Chuck Mitchell, Downbeat – 5 star review)

"A record so human, so goddamn bloody real, that you fully expect it to climb out of the jacket alone and lay down on the turntable for a ride. It is music that breathes, grunts, cries, sings, and laughs-it makes categories arbitrary and insignificant. Though the players involved are known for their jazz affiliations, the music appeal made here is universal."
(John Sinclair, The Detroit Sun)

Time Stood Still

“Leave it to Moses, a multi-directional shamanistic groovilator, to put all the pieces together. On Time Stood Still, another sprawling production of DeMille-ian scale. He seemliness blends Monk, funk, tap, hip hop, bebop, big band, blues, Bahia, Tanzania, and the avant-garde into one organic package while paying homage to the spirits of Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Jaco Pastorius.
(Bill Milkowski, Downbeat - 5 star review)

Visit With The Great Spirit

“One of the most exciting large band jazz records I’ve heard in years. This is what large band jazz ought to be... an eruption of rhythm, color and melody that is redolent of the most adventurous music from all jazz eras... one of the wildest and most joyous rides jazz has taken in years. ”
(Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News)