“It’s not about entertainment; it’s about inner attainment.” When you’re sitting with someone who’s lived and breathed jazz history, the kernels of wisdom fall freely. You’d best pay attention. On this day, I’m with none other than jazz drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses, whose stories range from New York to Kathmandu. “I grew up in the same building as Art Blakey, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Elvin Jones, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. 415 Central Park West. Rahsaan, I was in his house every day. From my window, I could watch Eric Dolphy play flute on a rock in Central Park. He’d sit there and play with the birds.”
That image captures the spirit of inner attainment that Moses speaks of. And he wasn’t a mere spectator. “Charles Mingus used to come over and play duets with me when I was 13. He used to live across the park on 5th Avenue — that’s mostly rich white folks. And Mingus didn’t think they would rent to a Black man, so my dad went in and pretended to be Mingus to sign the lease.” All the while, young Moses was absorbing lessons from these neighbors and friends. “Mingus said, ‘Bobby, you gotta learn how to play sloppy, man! You don’t want to be one of them white studio drummers.’ I said, ‘Mingus, I’m 13. I don’t even know how to play clean yet!’ But later I knew exactly what he meant. If it’s too clean, it doesn’t sound right. It sounds antiseptic. We need to keep the human imperfection in the music.”
Connecting individual notes and beats to broader principles comes naturally to Moses, who has a decidedly philosophical approach to music. One indication of that is his devotion to his teacher and musical collaborator, Tisziji Muñoz, who coined the phrase about inner attainment and bestowed the name Ra Kalam on Moses many years ago. “That’s a spiritual name given to me by Tisziji. My teacher, my guru. It’s really about getting beyond karma. Sometimes being Bob Moses has really been a drag. So Ra Kalam represents your highest aspect. It means ‘the inaudible sound of the invisible sun.’ So he gave me a very powerful name. And it’s a bitch to live up to! I’m still working on it.”
Indeed, Moses is working on a lot of things, always pushing himself to venture into strange territory. It’s certainly kept him on the cutting edge of fusion and free jazz since he was a teenager, starting with The Free Spirits, “the first jazz rock group,” as he says, founded by Moses and guitarist Larry Coryell. From there, it was a natural step to join The Insect Trust, the free jazz-influenced, genre-busting New York group that sometimes played Memphis in the late ’60s. “That was an amazing band of people,” Moses recalls. “Everybody in that band was very unique and wide-ranging. We had Trevor Koehler on saxophone. We had Bob Palmer, who was from Arkansas and talked like Deputy Dawg. But of all the people, the one who I resonated the most with was Ed Finney.”
With the mention of Finney’s name, Moses brings us back to the present: The local virtuoso guitarist is largely responsible for convincing Moses to make Memphis his new home. The two have been close ever since their Insect Trust days, often traveling the world together. “We became traveling companions,” says Moses. “Finney’s still doing it. I stopped a while ago. It’s hard to step out of your life. But I’d go to a place with maybe a flute or a log drum, with no plan, not knowing anybody.”
It’s that venturesome spirit that brought Moses to Memphis. “One thing I learned from Tisziji is, all culture is bondage. Though there’s beauty and greatness within all the cultures. One reason why I could relate to Memphis is, this is a soul town. I’m a Memphibian now. I’m comfortable on the ground and in the air. So I can play some grounded shit but also can play some airy stuff too. A sky drummer who started as an earth drummer. And happy to be an earth drummer, with the right people.”
Ra Kalam Bob Moses joins Deborah Swiney, Ed Finney, Bob Buckley, and Chris Parker at The Green Room, Crosstown Concourse, Thursday, December 9th, 7:30 p.m.