A virtuoso bassist,
Charnett Moffett was an ebullient and lyrical improviser whose work straddled acoustic post-bop, electric fusion, and contemporary jazz. The son of drummer
Charles Moffett, Sr., he first garnered attention as a member of
Wynton Marsalis' group in the 1980s. He also played with such icons as
Tony Williams,
Stanley Jordan, and
Ornette Coleman. His own work was stylistically broad-minded, and albums like 1989's
Beauty Within, 1994's Planet Home, and 2019's
Bright New Day showcased his spiritually minded and harmonically rich approach to contemporary jazz. It's a sound he also explored with his wife, singer/guitarist
Jana Herzen, as on 2020's
Round the World and 2021's
New Love.
Born in 1967 in New York City,
Charnett Moffett grew up in a musical family the son of drummer
Charles Moffett, Sr. He started on bass at a very early age and made his recorded debut on one of his father's records at age eight. Growing up, he often played music alongside his siblings, including drummer
Codaryl, singer Charisse, trumpeter
Mondre, and tenor saxophonist Charles Jr. As a teenager, he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, before studying first at Mannes College of Music and then for a time at Juilliard School of Music. It was while at Juilliard, at age 16, that he won the bass chair in trumpeter
Wynton Marsalis' quintet. He toured and recorded with the group for over two years, appearing on the trumpeter's Grammy-winning 1985 album
Black Codes (From the Underground). While with
Marsalis, he also played on saxophonist
Branford Marsalis' first album,
Scenes in the City, and recorded with others, including dates with
Stanley Jordan,
Sadao Watanabe, and
Frank Lowe.
As a solo artist,
Moffett made his debut in 1987 with
Net Man on Blue Note. The album featured appearances by tenor saxophonist
Michael Brecker, keyboardist
Kenny Drew, Jr., guitarist
Stanley Jordan, drummer
Al Foster, keyboardist
Kenny Kirkland, and several of his relatives (including his father). His sophomore Blue Note long-player,
Beauty Within, followed in 1989 and found him embracing a more crossover, fusion-informed sound and working with
Kenny Garrett and
Stanley Jordan. The album eventually peaked at number eight on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
Throughout the '90s,
Moffett was active as a sideman, working with
Tony Williams,
Slide Hampton,
Mulgrew Miller,
Monty Alexander,
Sonny Sharrock,
David Sanborn,
Arturo Sandoval, and
Diane Reeves, among many others. He also played regularly with
Ornette Coleman from 1993 to 1995. On his own, he continued to explore a blend of contemporary fusion and post-bop, releasing albums like 1991's Nettwork with keyboardist
Kirkland, 1994's Planet Home with pianist
Geoff Keezer and drummer
Victor Lewis, and 1997's Still Life with pianist
Rachel Z and drummer
Cindy Blackman.
Following sessions with
Wallace Roney,
Harry Connick, Jr., and
Herbie Hancock, among others,
Moffett returned to his solo work with 2004's For the Love of Peace. A spiritual jazz-influenced album, it found him working with pianist Scott Brown, as well as his siblings, trumpeter
Mondre Moffett and drummer
Codaryl Moffett. Spiritual jazz and world influences continued to inform his work, as on 2006's Internet, which again featured pianist Brown, as well as drummer
Eric McPherson. Around the same time, he formed a lasting partnership with singer/guitarist
Jana Herzen, collaborating on 2007's Passion of a Lonely Heart.
Moffett then returned to his solo work with 2009's eclectic, world music-infused
Art of Improvisation and 2010's East Indian-tinged Treasure. In 2013, he released two albums, Bridge: Solo Bass Works and the expansive, Eastern-influenced
Spirit of Sound. In 2017, he released
Music from Our Soul, which featured alternating drummers
Jeff "Tain" Watts,
Mike Clark, and
Victor Lewis, as well as saxophonist
Pharoah Sanders, pianist
Cyrus Chestnut, guitarist
Stanley Jordan, and percussionist
Babatunde Lea. In 2020,
Moffett and
Herzen married and released their second album,
Round the World, which featured covers of songs by
Joni Mitchell and
the Beatles. They also collaborated on 2021's
New Love, a more fusion-influenced album that found
Moffett singing.
Moffett died on April 11, 2022 from a heart attack. He was 54. ~ Matt Collar