Drummer, Composer, artist, poet, visionary, nature mystic, Moses' life has been a continuous quest for vision, spirit, compassion, growth and mastery in a multiplicity of art forms.
Born in New York City in 1948, he grew up in an atmosphere of musical and artistic ferment, living and dreaming in the same building as Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Rahsaan Kirk. Moses was exposed to this through his ultra hip parents, Richard and Greta (who gave shelter and support to many great musicians). Other close friends included pianist Elmo Hope, Eric Dolphy, legendary drummer Edgar Bateman, and Charles Mingus (who was a frequent visitor to the Moses household and would play piano and drum duets with the precocious thirteen-year-old). Moses, would later play with Roland Kirk's band and contribute a few small bits to classic recordings (Rip, Rig and Panic and I Talkwith the Spirits).
Moses began playing drums at age ten, and soon after piano and vibes, began composing at age fourteen. Around this time, he played his first professional gigs with various Latin jazz bands in the Bronx where he began his life long appreciation of Latin music, rhythms, culture and the art of playing for dancers. In 1965, Moses came together with the great Native American saxophonist Jim Pepper, and guitarist Larry Coryell, to form the Free Spirits, widely acknowledged as the first jazz rock band. The Free Spirits were the house band at Steve Paul's, "The Scene", where rock notables like Jimi Hendrix, Mtch Ryder, the Young Rascals, and jazz greats such as Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman and Gary Burton sat in to jam. After the Free Spirits disbanded, Moses, Coryell and bassist Steve Swallow became members of Gary Burton's groundbreaking quartet. This would be the first of three stints with Burton and included a memorable week at the Filmore West (1968 "Summer of Love") opposite Cream and The Electric Flag.
In the early 70's, Moses co-founded Compost, another vanguard jazz rock band with drummer Jack DeJohnette and saxophone great Harold Vick. Compost recorded two albums for Columbia and their explosive live sets always concluded with lengthy double drum workouts by DeJohnette and Moses, as well as a "People Sandwitch". In 1975, Moses created his own label, Mozown Records, to release Bittersuite in the Ozone. This early masterpiece for large ensemble, including Randy Brecker, Eddie Gomez, Dave Liebman, Stanley Free, Daniel Carter, Jeanne Lee, Howard Johnson, Billy Hart, and others, received 5 stars in Downbeat magazine and has been re-released on Billy Martin's Amulet Records.
During the mid and late 70's, Moses did a second stint with Gary Burton, played and recorded Bright SizeLife with Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius, toured England with Michael Gibbs' Big Band, played and recorded with Hal Galpers' band, featuring the Brecker Brothers, played with Jaco's Word of Mouth band, with Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, and Othello Molineaux. In 1979, Moses recorded Family, later reissued in 1995 with extra tracks as Devotion on Soulnote Records featuring Dave Liebman (on tenor sax), Terumasa Hino, Steve Kuhn, and Steve Swallow. - amuletorecords.com
Tracks
1 Autumn Liebs (Bob Moses)
2 Heaven (Duke Ellington)
3 Radio (Steve Swallow)
4 Snake And Pygmy Pie (Bob Moses)
5 St. Elmo (Bob Moses)
6 Portsmouth Figurations (Steve Swallow)
7 Christmas '78 (Bob Moses)
8 Devotion (Bob Moses)
TERUMASA HINO cornet, percussion
BOB MOSES drums
STEVE SWALLOW electric bass
STEVE KUHN piano
DAVID LIEBMAN tenor saxophone
Recorded in August 1979, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Tracks 1, 2, 6 to 8 were previously released on the LP Family.
Soul Note – 121173-2 (Italy)