Ras Moshe
Ras Burnett | |
|---|---|
at Downtown Music Gallery in 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Theodore Burnett III |
| Born | March 22, 1968 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupations | Musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, educator |
| Instrument(s) | Tenor and soprano Saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Ayler, Utech, Straw2gold Pictures, KMB, 577 |
Theodore Burnett III (born March 22, 1968, Brooklyn, New York), who performs under the name Ras Burnett, is a composer, multi-instrumentalist specializing in saxophone and flute, musicologist and educator.
Ras comes from a musical family. His paternal grandfather, Theodore Burnett (known professionally as "Ted Barnett”) played tenor and alto saxophone with bands led by Lucky Millinder, Earl Bostic, Don Redman, Louis Armstrong, and others. Ras's father, Theodore Burnett II, also played saxophone.
"The name Ras came when I was around the Rastafarian community and playing in some reggae bands," he said in a 2014 interview. "Moshe is a name given to me when I was a little younger based on a religious conversion in the family."