Charnett Moffett: bass hit

CHARNETT MOFFETT bass hit

There's a lot of music inside me," says 23-year-old bassist Charnett Moffett, whose Beauty Within album has been resting comfortably at the top of contemporary jazz charts. His ears hear reggae under jazz rhythms or Bach behind bass lines. Moffett wants to play it all, with his acoustic bass in the spotlight carrying the melody and leading the way.

"I'm a very open-minded person and musician. I don't separate the music," says Moffett, who recently toured with the guitarist Stanley Jordan. "When people hear my music, I want them to be able to say "That's Charnett's music,' even if it's funk record or hard-core swing."

Beauty Within is a jazzy melange of African, Latin and Eastern influences, spiced with funk. "There's some straight-ahead jazz, there's some easy listening and there's some classical music," says Moffett. "You can do some things that are very artistic, yet simplify it in a way that people can understand and keep up with it."

He inherited his eclectic tastes from his father, Charles Moffett, Sr., a renowned drummer who once played with the legendary Ornette Coleman. Coleman was also his childhood neighbor in Fort Worth, Texas. "I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of music," says the younger Moffett, whose first name is a blend of Charles and Ornette.

He started pounding beats on the drums when he was about 3 and blowing the trumpet at 5. At 7, when his father couldn't find anyone with the right sound to accompany the Moffett Family Band, he volunteered to play bass. As soon as he received his half-size bass, he was hooked. "I already knew at 7 years old that I wanted to be a bass player and do that for the rest of my life."

The following year, on tour in the Far East, he wrote his first song, "Good Wood." It was the name of a hotel in Singapore, and an apt description of his beloved bass.

"My father believed that if you could only play two notes, play the hell out of those two notes the best way you can," Moffett recalls. "Even when I'm 80 years old, I'm still going to try to get better." He attended a division of the prestigious Juilliard School in Manhattan, but left to go on tour with Wynton Marsalis.

His family is featured on Beauty Within as well as on his 1987 debut album, Net Man. "I write from everyday life experience," says Moffett, whose new album includes "Angela," a ballad dedicated to his wife (a classically trained actress) and "My Little One," a playful tune for his 2-year-old son, Charnett II.

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