Maurice "Mo" Egeston - pianist-producer-educator
Pianist, producer and educator Mo Egeston has been the driving force behind some of the St. Louis region's best bands for over 14 years. Currently Mo performs live and original jazz flavored house, electronica and drum and bass with the mo E All-Stars and mo E trio.
He also leads the Soul Alliance featuring CocoSoul and plays keys for Brothers Lazaroff. In addition Mo hosts a Sunday Brunch music series called “Lola Live!” in the downtown St. Louis loft district.
Recent work includes UG Project (2008- ), the remix project (2005- 2008), Vargas Swing (1997-2006) and Urban Jazz Naturals (2000-2005).
Listen to mo's work as a solo artist here. Join mo on facebook News and updates are blogged at http://moegeston.blogspot.com . Or just join the Mo Egeston mailing list below and you will receive schedule updates, information and free downloads.
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Mo Egeston's love for all grooves electronic began on the dancefloors of St. Louis' underground house scene almost 20 years ago. (You know who you are DJ Steve-O!) . Since those days his career has been a diverse journey of musical discovery and education. After graduate school at Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville), Mo's band career began with Invincible Groov. Something about starting your first band in your mid 20s AFTER college is a little um backwards....but we digress. Invincible Groov was a funk/groove band that enjoyed a successful residency at the Green Room, one of St. Louis, Missouri's (USA) first Washington Ave. hotspots.
From Invincible Groov, Vargas Soundsystem was formed by combining some of the premier jazz players in the area to back veteran funk/rock vocalist Pete Bold.
1997 saw the Soundsystem become Vargas Swing, which quickly gained the reputation as one of the Midwest's top show bands. Vargas Swing recorded an album "FIRE" in 1998, toured the country in 1999 and appeared on two national compilations in 1999-2000. (Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips Vol. 3/Hip- O Records and Swing Set/House of Blues) Vargas continued as one of St. Louis' most prominent bands through 2006.
Eclipsing the national rep acquired by Vargas Swing, the pioneering live electronica act Urban Jazz Naturals (2000- 2005) has been the most successful project to date. UJN released a debut EP followed by two singles in the DJ driven dance market.
These releases, How Can I (Gallery) with a remix by JT Donaldson and the Urban Jazz EP with a remix by Demarkus Lewis (Large Music), were both written by mo & dawn with mixing and beat support from UJN. (Christian Oncken aka XJN and D. Tinsley) The singles have been supported in clubs globally by some of the industry's top DJs, including legends Derrick Carter and Mark Farina, followed by glowing write-ups in magazines such as Urb and BPM magazine.
Building on the sound of UJN, the remix project was born. The sound was still all about live electronica, but with complete freedom of style and musical collaboration. The new set included house, trip hop, electro funk, soul, acid jazz and drum& bass. Mo remixed every track written for UJN as well as some tracks from the original Vargas Swing EP plus lots of new material.
With all of his original and lounge projects Mo's job is to mix the groove and play the keys.
As a pianist Mo, who did his graduate work at SIU-Edwardsville, is a respected chamber player and accompanist. He performed with the Nuevo Tango (New Tango a la Astor Piazolla) ensemble ConcerTango that featured current and former St. Louis Symphony Orchestra players along with Webster University Faculty members. In 2000, Mo accompanied trumpeter and former collaborator Dawn Weber at the Ellsworth-Smith International Trumpet Competition in Bad Sackingen, Germany.
