“It’s almost like a nirvana for jazz artists.”
From Straight Life to Jazz and Justice, creative-music literature is rife with horror stories about artists—especially Black ones—getting ripped off. As pianist/composer/educator Jason Moran reiterates to JazzTimes, “The history of our music and being taken advantage of goes back to slavery in this country.”
Moran spent 18 years on Blue Note Records, which he describes as a positive experience. After fulfilling two contracts for the label, it was time to move on. But when he surveyed the streaming landscape for new options, he found it wanting; history seemed to be repeating itself.
And so, with Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Ahmad Jamal
