Manafonistas

Jason Moran’s contribution to the Biennale
 

At the Biennale, the Savoy wall confronts the Three Deuces stage to embody a face-off between two different eras of American jazz: 1930s swing era with 1950s bebop, respectively. Moran explains that the Savoy Ballroom was an enormous space meant for dancing. When swing went out of fashion and jazz groups literally downsized, the stages shrunk, too. Though the musicians were “shoved in a corner,” as Moran puts it, “the music remained rebellious.” Read more …