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Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream
by Ted Gordon
Consider this album a blind date of sorts: Drummer Paul Motian-meets-pianist-Jason Moran, introduced by the matchmaker, saxophonist Chris Potter. Though Motian had worked once with Moran in 2006, this collaboration is a stunning example of the versatility and mastery of Motian's veteran technique. Recorded over a week of concerts at New York City's Village Vanguard, Motian's stomping grounds, this album is held together by the trio's seemingly effortless exploration of slow, melodic ballads. At 79, Motian has proven to be ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: Lost in a Dream
by AAJ Italy Staff
Paul Motian torna a registrare al Village Vanguard. E lo fa con un trio, formazione che esalta al massimo grado la sua poetica asciutta, spigolosa, immersa nei silenzi. Il gioco trigonometrico che scolpisce e attraversa lo spazio è sempre stato un motivo di stimolo, di riflessione, di approfondimento per il lavoro del batterista. Un'attrazione iniziata con Bill Evans e Scott LaFaro, che poi ha imboccato strade proprie con diverse varianti di organico: il trio con sax e contrabbasso, quello con ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream
by Dan McClenaghan
Drummer Paul Motian seems to fit very comfortably into any musical situation, and elevate it. With a career that spans more than five decades--and seeming to begin at an early pinnacle with pianist Bill Evans' trio on the legendary Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Riverside Records, 1961)--Motian has, as a sideman, augmented musical visions galore. A listen no further than his contributions to Bobo Stenson's Goodbye (ECM Records, 2005), Anat Fort's A Long Story (ECM Records, 2007), or Marc Copland's ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream
by David McLean
A drummer whose inventive approach to percussion has produced one of the most recognizable and in demand sounds in the pantheon of jazz, Paul Motian's revolutionary playing has seen him approach the kit not as a rhythmic backbone, but as a tool for subtlety and soundscape creation. Lost In A Dream, Motian's set of midnight ballads, is a perfect evocation of the the New York Cityscape's iconography. His hushed brush work calls to mind the patter of rain--the mist and ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream
by Mark Corroto
Drummer Paul Motian makes another stellar recording with his newest trio of pianist Jason Moran and saxophonist Chris Potter. Soon to be eighty, the drummer--who doesn't venture out of Manhattan these days--displays full command over musical expression and emotion on this live recording.
It's impossible to listen to Motian's trio work at New York's Village Vanguard without reflecting on his employer in the early 1960s, Bill Evans. Motian sat at the drum chair for those grail-like dates with ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream
by John Kelman
Though he's led larger ensembles, drummer Paul Motian seems to be most comfortable--or, at the very least, most interested--in working within the particular confines and freedoms of the trio. Whether it's his quarter century old group with guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, or the early saxophone/bass/drums trio of Dance (ECM, 1978) and Le Voyage (ECM, 1979), Motian has spent much of his career as a leader exploring a format less intimate than the duo, perhaps, but still small ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: On Broadway Vol. 5
by Brandt Reiter
The brushes are out as drummer Paul Motian continues his ongoing disc series, On Broadway. This latest installment features Motian's less starry “2000" trio, with bassist Thomas Morgan and saxophonist Loren Stillman, plus a second saxophonist, Michaël Attias and pianist Masabumi Kikuchi (who also participated on Vol. 4). Two decades on, the recipe remains the same--loving, thoughtful explorations of mostly Broadway tunes by one of jazz's great skins-men. This volume is perhaps the most intimate of this ...
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