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Bob Moses' career has taken a number of included turns along the way. In the 1960s, he drummed with then-obscure Jazz Rock legends the Free Spirits, alongside guitarist Larry Coryell; in the mid '70s, he played on Pat Metheny's debut, Bright Size Life; and by the late '90s, he was becoming known as the guru who brought Medeski, Martin & Wood together. As a composer/arranger, he has recorded several visionary (if often overlooked) large ensemble LPs, most notably When Elephants Dream of Music (1982). On this album, Moses brings together Miles Davis-style Fusion, Gil Evans-esque horn arrangements, and Charles Mingus-inspired romanticism, meanwhile adding layers of ethnic percussion, dream-like vibes and marimbas, and even a choir of snoring voices; subsequent albums for Gramavision show a similar innovativeness, charm and subtle sense of humor. While Moses was quiet for much of the '90s, he seems poised for a renaissance both via a recent recording (Nishoma) and the reissue of some of his older LPs on MMW drummer Billy Martin's Amulet label.
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