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Paul Motian Band: Garden of Eden
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
For about the last fifteen years, drummer Paul Motian has explored the possibilities of two guitars, two saxophones, bass and drums with his Electric Bebop Band. Always drawing from a revolving cast of younger, emergent musicians, he augments the lineup with another guitar on Garden of Eden. Though a septet with this instrumentation could easily become dense and busy, the tunes are carefully arranged and skillfully executed with a billowy lightness. Saxophonists Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: At The Village Vanguard
by Abe Pollack
Paul Motian's longstanding trio is considered one of the greatest jazz bands of today, if not all time. With guitarist Bill Frisell and tenor man Joe Lovano working in symbiotic melody and harmony, Motian has the freedom to showcase his use of color and texture. These musicians approach a standard as if it were an original, with just as much conviction and respect for the melody as if they had written it themselves. Over twenty years, this ...
Continue ReadingJoe Lovano: I'm All for You
by Samuel Chell
No instrument is more synonymous with jazz than the tenor saxophone, due equally to the expressive capabilities of the horn and the legacy of great players who have been attracted to it. On the evidence of Down Beat readers' and critics' polls over the past decade, Joe Lovano would appear to be the favorite among contenders for the top spot among present-day tenor titans. Is he one of the giants? Perhaps, though one might be hard-pressed to make the case ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian Band: Garden Of Eden
by Chris May
On Garden Of Eden, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band shortens its name and lengthens its stride to present a new artistic agenda. Recalibrations of the bop and hard bop repertoires stay on the bill, but only in a supporting role: the main event now is original material, most of it composed by Motian. (Nine of the fourteen tracks are originals, seven of them written by Motian, plus one each from saxophonist Chris Cheek and guitarist Steve Cardenas.) ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian Band: Garden of Eden
by Budd Kopman
If Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude had been put to music, it might have sounded like Garden of Eden. That novel has a feeling of timelessness, fecund vegetation, thick air, filtered sunlight, and a natural beauty that is almost frightening in its immediacy and intensity. The history of this group goes back to the early '90s and Motian's Electric Bebop Band, whose first edition had Joshua Redman and Chris Potter on saxophones, with Kurt Rosenwinkel ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian Band: Garden of Eden
by John Kelman
A recent bulletin board poster suggested that “any human being's imagination and creative thinking wanes with age." Considering how many artists in their sixties and beyond remain not only vital, but are creating some of their best work, it's an easy supposition to refute. Drummer Paul Motian is the perfect example--despite some travel restrictions due to health concerns, he's never sounded better. Since renewing his relationship with ECM in 2004, his activity has been nothing short of ...
Continue ReadingBill Evans: The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961
by C. Michael Bailey
The Wish Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you..., Matthew 7:7 (KJV) In 2001, I took a poll of All About Jazz contributors to determine the Top Ten Best Live Jazz Recordings. This poll corresponded with my previously completed series The Top Ten Best Live Rock Recordings. These two article series have recently been reformatted, archived, and republished as: Best Live Jazz Recordings (1953-65), Best ...
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