My father, Sal Mosca, passed away on July 28. He was beyond category and beyond label.

An early fan of stride piano, Sal studied and practiced until his music was informed by a wide range of styles and approaches. His single defining concept was improvisation.

For Sal and the pantheon of acknowledged musical greats of his generation, improvisation became the definition of jazz, a genre which itself suffers from a surfeit of often misleading and confusing labels.

Sal has been described as a bop, post-bop, and cool jazz artist. None thoroughly apply.

Sal is unique in that once he settled on improvisation as his guide, he let his personality drive his music regardless of consequence. To know Sal personally one can understand his music. To know Sal’s music one can begin to understand the man.

Sal could be simultaneously complex and simple, serious and playful, social and secluded. Once he decided that what he felt as an individual was the most precious thing he owned, he never feared presenting that individuality in the purest form he was able to muster. A technical master of his instrument and the elements of musical composition, Sal could express himself without technical limitations and so all of his music is organic and undiluted by worldly considerations.

As such, Sal may be remembered most by what his music does not contain. There are no artifacts or commercial motives. There are no concessions to popular style. There are no underlying messages and no hidden agenda. There is no compromise.

Sal’s music is not for dilettantes. Only those seeking incredible music for its own sake and those steeped in the technical background of musical creation can and will appreciate what Sal has left behind. Others may best be left to pursue music correctly defined by mere labels.

See also "Requiem" at salmosca.com, also written by Stephen Mosca