With every well-placed note
and every incisive solo on Nick Moran’s new album No Time Like Now, the
guitarist brings an urgent creative agenda to the table. It features
organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Chris Benham, both rising players on
the New York scene. An impressive follow-up to Moran’s 2007 debut, The
Messenger, No Time Like Now is a potent trio session that focuses on
Moran’s stirring compositions and arrangements, venturesome material
that consistently moves beyond organ combo conventions.
Raised on rock and blues, Moran acknowledges and deconstructs his roots with the opening track, transforming Cream’s 1967 hit “Strange Brew” into a surprisingly effective jazz/funk vehicle. The band further explores the blues with the funky “Say Hi to Paris,” a tribute to the great New York blues singer Frankie Paris, and “The Physicist Transformed,” which is set in five, based on an extended blues form, and builds to a climactic drum solo.
“My Beautiful” displays Moran’s gift for writing long, episodic melodies, and the deliberately paced “Intention” was inspired by his studies with bass legend Ron Carter. “I wanted the bass part to have a melodic function,” Moran says. “And the drums are all color, so Chris plays the cymbals with that sheen of sound.”
With “Slow Drive,” the mode abruptly switches to badass funk, propelled by surging organ lines and Moran’s diamond clean guitar tone. Inspired by an idea from Jeff Beck, “Wishful Thinking” is an angular tune that subtly changes meter while Whiteley maintains a propulsive bass ostinato. “I wanted the time signature to change in mid-stream without the listener noticing. It should feel completely natural.”
“Natalya” is a heartbreaking funeral march that Moran wrote in honor of the fearless Chechen human rights activist Natalya Estemirova after reading about her assassination in 2009. He composed the album’s elegiac title track thinking about a phone conversation with a close friend that turned out to be their last communication before his unexpected death. While it’s a tribute, it’s also a meditation on the preciousness of each moment.
The album closes with “Renewal,” another composition that evolves in unexpected directions. With three distinct sections, the piece captures the trio at its most cohesive, from the flowing opening statement through its optimistic conclusion.
EARLY REVIEWS of No Time Like Now:
“The organ trio field is a dynamic and crowded one, but the Nick Moran Trio rises up near the top with No Time Like Now.”
— Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
“What struck me first about the Nick Moran Trio’s second album No Time Like Now were the instantly likable melodies and the righteous grooves. But listening to it closer reveals other reasons to like this record: the subtle tempo shifts (“Wishful Thinking”), a soul-jazz take on the blues that retains the soul of the original (Cream’s “Strange Brew”) and picaresque balladry (“My Beautiful”)
— S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews
“This rocker loves the jazz organ trio sound. Nick Moran is a guitarist with an extraordinary touch and composition sensibility… well worth a listen.”
— Roland Stone, Accent on Tampa Bay Magazine
“5 stars. With plenty of chops and a keen ear for an arrangement that pops, Moran is pushing the boundaries of the traditional organ trio by carefully exploring his rock roots… An infectious groove guaranteed to make your musical back leg shake and the right amount of soul to touch the heart.”
— Brent Black, @Critical Jazz
Raised on rock and blues, Moran acknowledges and deconstructs his roots with the opening track, transforming Cream’s 1967 hit “Strange Brew” into a surprisingly effective jazz/funk vehicle. The band further explores the blues with the funky “Say Hi to Paris,” a tribute to the great New York blues singer Frankie Paris, and “The Physicist Transformed,” which is set in five, based on an extended blues form, and builds to a climactic drum solo.
“My Beautiful” displays Moran’s gift for writing long, episodic melodies, and the deliberately paced “Intention” was inspired by his studies with bass legend Ron Carter. “I wanted the bass part to have a melodic function,” Moran says. “And the drums are all color, so Chris plays the cymbals with that sheen of sound.”
With “Slow Drive,” the mode abruptly switches to badass funk, propelled by surging organ lines and Moran’s diamond clean guitar tone. Inspired by an idea from Jeff Beck, “Wishful Thinking” is an angular tune that subtly changes meter while Whiteley maintains a propulsive bass ostinato. “I wanted the time signature to change in mid-stream without the listener noticing. It should feel completely natural.”
“Natalya” is a heartbreaking funeral march that Moran wrote in honor of the fearless Chechen human rights activist Natalya Estemirova after reading about her assassination in 2009. He composed the album’s elegiac title track thinking about a phone conversation with a close friend that turned out to be their last communication before his unexpected death. While it’s a tribute, it’s also a meditation on the preciousness of each moment.
The album closes with “Renewal,” another composition that evolves in unexpected directions. With three distinct sections, the piece captures the trio at its most cohesive, from the flowing opening statement through its optimistic conclusion.
EARLY REVIEWS of No Time Like Now:
“The organ trio field is a dynamic and crowded one, but the Nick Moran Trio rises up near the top with No Time Like Now.”
— Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
“What struck me first about the Nick Moran Trio’s second album No Time Like Now were the instantly likable melodies and the righteous grooves. But listening to it closer reveals other reasons to like this record: the subtle tempo shifts (“Wishful Thinking”), a soul-jazz take on the blues that retains the soul of the original (Cream’s “Strange Brew”) and picaresque balladry (“My Beautiful”)
— S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews
“This rocker loves the jazz organ trio sound. Nick Moran is a guitarist with an extraordinary touch and composition sensibility… well worth a listen.”
— Roland Stone, Accent on Tampa Bay Magazine
“5 stars. With plenty of chops and a keen ear for an arrangement that pops, Moran is pushing the boundaries of the traditional organ trio by carefully exploring his rock roots… An infectious groove guaranteed to make your musical back leg shake and the right amount of soul to touch the heart.”
— Brent Black, @Critical Jazz