Charnett Moffett is a virtuosic bassist who is equally skilled on acoustic and electric. The son of drummer Charles Moffett, Sr. and the younger brother of drummer Codaryl, singer Charisse, trumpeter Mondre, and tenor saxophonist Charles Jr. (all of whom have guested on his records), Charnett started on bass early and appeared at age eight on a family record in 1974 for LRS. He later studied at Juilliard and was in Wynton Marsalis’ quintet when he was 16, playing with the trumpeter regularly during 1983-1985. Moffett, who appeared on 17 records before he turned 20, has worked with Tony Williams, Slide Hampton, Mulgrew Miller, Monty Alexander, Sonny Sharrock, Stanley Jordan, David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, and Diane Reeves, among many others, and played regularly with Ornette Coleman during 1993-1995. Moffett has recorded regularly as a solo artist beginning with his 1987 Blue Note debut Beauty Within and followed-up by Net Man. He continued to record throughout the ’90s with 1991’s Nettwork, 1994’s Planet Home and 1997’s Still Life. Although he continued to perform regularly, Moffett would not return to recorded solo work until 2004’s For the Love of Peace. He followed that up two years later with Internet. In 2009, Moffett released the eclectic world-music infused Art of Improvisation. Moffett then stuck with the world music template with his 2010 Eastern Indian tinged album Treasure. ~ Scott Yanow
