Ciara Moser - Blind. So what? (2023) [Hi-Res]

As a professional bassist and someone who has been blind since birth, part of Dublin-born/Austria-raised/Boston-based Ciara Moser’s identity has shaped her unique journey through life and music in a profound way. Blind. So what?, Moser’s modern jazz fusion debut album, is centered around her experience as a blind musician while also raising awareness for the blind community.

The songs on Blind. So what?, available October 20, explore topics such as the art of memorizing, spatial sense for orientation, trusting others, and the different perceptions that blind people have on the world. The 27-year-old Moser, who plays virtuosic basslines on a Fodera electric six-string throughout the album, undoubtedly knows her way around groove-laden funk fusion and experimental contemporary jazz/world music.

While Moser pursued her master’s degree at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, she was mentored by its director and multiple GRAMMY-winning Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, who Moser has performed with around the globe, John Patitucci, Victor Wooten, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joe Lovano and others. Moser’s stint at Berklee not only heightened her playing and composing skills but she was also deeply inspired by the theme of using music as a vehicle for social change, thus inspiring her to pen compositions for Blind. So what? Each tune on the album is lyrically and instrumentally dedicated to one topic concerning music and blindness. The lyrics were written by Moser except for the poem “The Lady with a Green Cane.”

Moser’s insightful arrangements on Blind. So what? give each of the many of the album’s musicians, most of which all current and former Berklee students, a chance to showcase their artistry and add their individual flavor to the compositions. Moser is joined by drummer and vocalist Lumanyano MZI, percussionists Juan Sebastian Sanchez and George Lernis, keyboardists Warren Pettey, Stephanie Weninger and Anastassiya Petrova, guitarists Amaury Cabral, Liam Garcia and Isaac Romagosa, saxophonists Salim Charvet, Shahar Amdor and Lihi Haruvi, lead vocalists Aditi Malhotra and Nishant Shekar, backing vocalists Masa Vujadinovic and Shivaraj Natraj as well as several others who provide spoken voices.