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All Music Guide:
Brooklyn resident Jason Moran brings a distinctly artistic touch to his jazz compositions and piano playing. The impressionistic approach of visual and musical artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Maurice Ravel inspire Moran's playing and writing style, on both his own compositions and his work with jazz contemporaries like Cassandra Wilson, Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, and Stefan Harris. Moran's debut album Soundtrack to Human Motion appeared in 1999; Facing Left followed a year later. In 2001 he released Black Stars, which featured his trio, comprised also of bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, joined by saxophone legend Sam Rivers. A year later he took a much different approach on Modernistic, offering an album of solo piano recordings. Since that time, Moran released the live album The Bandwagon in 2003 and Artist In Residence in 2006. Moran returned in 2010 with the trio album Ten.
Wikipedia:
Jason Matthew Patrick Moran (22 September 1967 – 21 June 2003) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, and one of the leaders of the Moran crime family, notable for its involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings. He sported a 12 cm scar on the side of his face.
Early life [edit]
Moran was the son of Lewis Moran and Judy Moran. Mark Moran was his half-brother. Moran attended Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School. He met his future wife, Trisha Kane, at 15 years of age. She is the daughter of Les Kane, a Melbourne painter and docker and reputed criminal who was murdered in his family home on 19 October 1978.
During the 90's Moran emerged as one of Melbourne's main dealers in party drugs. During this time he had a team of up and coming western suburbs gangsters led by Bluey Watkins and Toofie Abudul running drugs for him. Watkins has been a missing person since the mid 90's while Abudul served time for conspiracy. Watkins is believed to have witnessed Moran murder a rival drug dealer at the age of fourteen and believed to have been uncontrollable even for the Morans. Jason looked apon Watkins as a son while only putting up with Abudul.
Moran was reported to have shot Carl Williams in the stomach during an argument in Gladstone Park on 13 October 1999, giving rise to lengthy violent turf wars known as the Melbourne gangland killings. Jason Moran had attended the funeral of another slain mobster, Victor Peirce.
Alphonse Gangitano and Moran, along with associate Mark John McNamara, were charged over an attack in the Sports Bar nightclub in King Street, Melbourne, on 19 December 1995, for which Moran received a term of imprisonment.
Moran was considered by many to be a "dead man walking" and when paroled from prison in September 2001 was allowed to leave Australia due to fears for his life. He later returned to give evidence in the inquest into the death of Gangitano on 20 November which began on 14 January 2002. Moran was suspected in Gangitano's murder. Gangitano was found dead in the laundry of his Templestowe house by his wife in 1998. A coroner found that Jason Moran and Graham Kinniburgh were present during Gangitano's murder in January 1998.
Murder [edit]
Pasquale Barbaro and Moran were gunned down on 21 June 2003 at a junior football clinic in Essendon, where they had been watching Moran's young children. On returning to their motor vehicle they were shot dead by a lone gunman. Police feared that the murders would lead to further violence in the Melbourne underworld war. Father Joe Giaccobe, a friend of the Moran family performed Moran's funeral. During the service another priest, Father John Martin said:
"Any funeral presents a challenge. Obviously, the church does not make judgements about the person. They need the prayers and whatever the church can do for them...They have to answer to God. We will not deny them".Moran's father, Lewis Moran, was unable to attend the service due to incarceration at Port Phillip Correctional Centre. Authorities refused Moran's request to allow him to be released from prison to attend the service. Lewis Moran was later murdered while drinking in a Brunswick bar.
On 28 February 2007, Carl Williams pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to the murder of Jason Moran. The actual shooting was done by Victor Brincat with Williams having organised the killing. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 7 May 2007. Carl Williams was murdered while incarcerated at Barwon prison on 19 April 2010.
References in popular culture [edit]
In the drama series Underbelly Jason Moran is played by actor Les Hill.
