The confluence of post-bop, indie-rock and chamber music finds another good outlet in “Forth” (NCM), by the Four Bags. It’s an album of springy friction, its lineup consisting of Brian Drye’s trombone, Michael McGinnis’s clarinets, Jacob Garchik’s accordion and Sean Moran’s guitar. Every band member contributes at least one composition; there are also deft arrangements of songs from the Persian devotional realm, the Brazilian Forró canon and the catalog of the French electronic duo Air. Throughout the album the improvisation shifts easily from one musician to the next, and the rhythmic brio in the group obviates the need for a percussionist. Every now and then you hear the punchy click of the buttons on Mr. Moran’s effects pedals, and that turns out to be enough.
Sean Moran “Small Elephant” Quintet Recording Mixed!
Just finished mixing my first recording as a leader featuring Mike Mcginnis(clarinet), Chris Dingman(vibraphone), Reuben Radding(bass), Harris Eisenstadt(drums) and myself on nylon string guitar and compositions.
Andrew Thompson “I’m Not Likely to Change” Lewis Recordings 2009
K.Page and Sleepwalker’s Parade “Green City” Realpolitik Records 2006
One Ring Zero, “As Smart as We Are” Soft Skull Press 2004
The Morpholinos“[For Background Use Only]” NCM East 2003 (NCM 40119)
One Ring Zero, “Memorandum”, Urban Geek Records 2002
Allison Tartaglia, “Ready” Make Haste Records, 2003
Bio
About Sean Moran
Sean Moran is a guitarist and composer based in Brooklyn, NY. He has performed at New York venues such as Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn, The Stone, BAM, Roulette, and Symphony Space as well as playing in Japan, Europe, and throughout the U.S. His music has been featured on WNYC’s “Soundcheck” and “Spinning on Air”, as well as at Merkin Concert Hall. He plays regularly with the chamber quartet “The Four Bags”, the avante metal trio “Bassoon”, leads his own group “Small Elephant”, and performs with many other NYC based groups.
Hailed as “A forward thinking guitarist”(Chinen) by the NY Times, Sean has also performed and/or recorded in many groups featuring a wide variety of artists including Jackie Cain, Briggan Krauss, Teo Macero, Ron Mclure, Stew, Daniel Carter, George Schuller, Federico Ughi, Earl Mcintyre, and Pamelia Kurstin among many others. Sean has been a longtime faculty member of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where he teaches composition, theory, counterpoint and jazz studies.
Press Quotes
(Sean Moran’s Small Elephant) Guitarist-Composer Sean Moran presents works inspired by both hectic fusion and dreamy chamber music..
Time Out NY
Edgy electric guitar improvisations…
Astarita – All About Jazz
Electric guitarist Sean Moran plays a critical role throughout, with his hard-laced solos blending a rock sensibility with a free aesthetic.
Loewy – All Music review of Federico Ughi’s “South of Brooklyn” 577 records
The group is a chamber ensemble making music in the era-defining category of the uncategorizable, its work a hybrid of jazz, classical, folk, and pop musics from around the world. Exuberant, virtuosic, and light-spirited, the Four Bags make smart music with a quiet, joyful intensity..I’m loving the group’s new CD, Forth
Hajdu – The New Republic
“What a strange lineup for a jazz quartet: trombone, accordion, guitar, and woodwinds. But what vibrant, compelling music. This is as hip as chamber jazz gets. To drive the point home the quartet even covers a song by the French electronic duo Air.”
Greenlee – Jazz’s top ten albums of 2011 – The Boston Globe
Guitarist Sean Moran, in particular, is a curious player who stands out even within such a curious group (The Four Bags). His electric playing seems to be informed largely by post-rock atmospherics (think delay, trem picking, all the rest) and classic film soundtracks (a little noir here, a little Morricone there) – it’s a daring fit within the accordion/clarinet/trombone/guitar schematic. At one point, the group segued from a classic French waltz into one of Moran’s own compositions, which featured a hilariously chug-y metallic breakdown fit for any number of contemporary hardcore groups to ransack.
Battik – Dispatch Magazine
Mr. Moran, a forward-thinking guitarist, focuses on his nylon-string and his own compositions in this new ensemble. (Small Elephant)
Chinen – NY Times
Pics
Sean Moran Nylon string Guitar
Sean Moran Electric Guitar
Strumming
Live Show
Bands
Sean Moran’s “Small Elephant”
Sean Moran (nylon string), Mike Mcginnis (clarinets), Chris Dingman (vibraphone), Reuben Radding (bass), Harris Eisenstadt (drums)
The Four Bags
Brian Drye (trombone), Sean Moran (guitar), Jacob Garchik (accordion), Mike Mcginnis (clarinet)
