Jazz Articles about Paul Motian

Paul Motian / Jason Moran / Chris Potter: Lost in a Dream

by Ian Patterson
August 10, 2010

Pianos have rarely been featured in drummer Paul Motian's ensembles, though his years with Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett have surely left an impression on his approach to balladry. Lost in a Dream is a collection of Motian ballads recorded at the Village Vanguard in early 2009, with Motian in the intriguing company of pianist Jason Moran and saxophonist Chris Potter. The empathy here is pronounced. Never restricted by the role of mere time-keeper, Motian's touch and free, impressionistic playing ...

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream

by Martin Gladu
May 23, 2010

Flitting like drunken fireflies, luminescent tones flutter out of a saxophone, tracing capricious, spasmodic lines. In the background, washes of cymbals and softly-brushed snare sweeps weave discretely fine-spun rhythms around a shy piano that is busy rocking drowsy chords to sleep. Fragmented, almost to the point of abstraction, the music nevertheless expands, ebb and flowing placidly like sea waves licking at a sandy beach, pulse-less yet its life beating strong.If a modernist spin on the old cubist aesthetic ...

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream

by Ted Gordon
May 11, 2010

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 ...

Paul Motian: Lost in a Dream

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 10, 2010

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 ...

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream

by Dan McClenaghan
April 26, 2010

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 ...

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream

by David McLean
April 16, 2010

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 ...

Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost In A Dream

by Mark Corroto
April 3, 2010

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 ...