In today’s episode Andrew speaks with Jason Moran, pianist and composer, educator, scholar, McArthur Fellow, and so much more; really, Jason needs no introduction, as his massive body of work speaks for itself. The scope of today’s conversation is full and broad in scope, but for Andrew, it’s possible that what he’ll treasure most about this interview is the story that Jason retells of a chance meeting between the two of them in the airport in Amsterdam. As Jason remembers it, it was fairly soon after 9/11 and airlines were being strict about carry-on baggage. Jason and Andrew ran into each other at the airport, each heading to their perspective concerts. Andrew had too many carry-on’s and so Jason offered to carry Andrew’s saxophone on the plane. He notes the case was a custom-made pink leopard-patterned saxophone case (which Andrew still has to this day). Fast-forward a few days, and during the band performance at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway, B.B. King’s band was also performing. At one point Andrew was walking by B.B. King and his band backstage, and one of Mr. King’s band members looked at the leopard sax case and said “man, that sax case is tight!”
