The Moss

Moss are comprised of five talented jazz-inspired singers. Peter Eldridge from the New York Voices and Luciana Souza discussed the idea of getting together a quintet of open-minded and flexible vocalists several years before they gathered with Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann, and Lauren Kinhan (also from the New York Voices) in Souza’s apartment in 2005. Although all of the singers have strong individual musical personality, they agreed to work together in Moss to create a new group sound, keeping their music very open while operating as equal partners. The singers come from diverse backgrounds, with Bleckmann an innovator in utilizing electronics in his music, Souza a leading force in modern Latin and South American music, McGarry a master at combining jazz with aspects of folk music, Kinhan having recorded with Ornette Coleman, and Eldridge being one of the main guiding forces behind the New York Voices. As Moss, they mix together jazz, electronica, folk, world music, classical, pop, rock, and poetry/spoken word, often using a rhythm section. Moss first performed at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan. Although they have sung in Los Angeles, most of their activity has been in New York and on the East Coast, when their busy schedules permit. In 2008 they released their first CD, Moss. The results are a bit surprising, with the music being closer to folk, pop, and Gregorian chants than to jazz. In addition to originals, Moss performed tunes by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Tom Waits plus McGarry’s adaptation of E.E. Cummings’ poetry on their debut. ~ Scott Yanow