“In New York, Thelonious Monk used to go into the community center and pull the piano out of the community center and over to the playground, while people played basketball.” —Jason Moran
For today’s video, we’re bringing you the latest work involving the art world’s favorite musical collaborator, jazz musician Jason Moran. Working with the artist Ari Marcopoulos — known for his photography and films reflecting urban culture in New York, former assistant to Andy Warhol then Irving Penn, and recent collaborator with Gucci — Moran recorded a live piano soundtrack for Marcopoulos’ street basketball cinéma vérité film The Park (2017–2018). With concurrent exhibitions of Marcopoulos’ work opening at Fergus McCaffrey’s galleries in New York (January 24 – February 23, 2019) and Tokyo (January 12 – March 9, 2019), Moran also performed live with The Park at Sonorium Music Hall in Tokyo back in December. Fergus McCaffrey made this film about the collaboration and performance.