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Paul 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 ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: On Broadway Vol. 5
by Mark F. Turner
An unorthodox timekeeper and masterful drummer, Paul Motian's momentum has not waned since working with Bill Evans in the 1950s, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and Keith Jarrett's American Quartet in the 1960s, and, more recently, younger artists including Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik and Mat Maneri in Two Miles a Day (Loyal Label, 2007). Among Motian's many recordings as a leader, his On Broadway series started in 1989, on the German JMT label, featuring past members Bill Frisell and Joe ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: Zen Brushstrokes
by Tom Greenland
Larry Gelb America Is Free ImaginMusic 2008 George Garzone Among Friends Stunt Records 2009 Michael Adkins Quartet Rotator Hat Hut 2008 Ed Schuller & the Reunion Trio Serendipity: Live at A-Trane, Berlin Tutu Records 2009
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Paul Motian: Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. II
by Ted Gordon
This is indoor music: music for contemplating, sitting and smoking, letting it smolder in the ears and grow. Paul Motian, the veteran drummer whose mature, idiosyncratic percussive language has been shaped by years of playing with Bill Evans, Paul Bley, Keith Jarrett and others, shines on this album: he seems completely at home, considered, even slow at some points. Nearly a generation after he recorded the legendary session at the Village Vanguard with Evans in 1961, Motian returned with his ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: Time and Time Again
by Nenad Georgievski
There's always magic in the air whenever Paul Motian, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano get together and this album is no exception. A sequel to the brilliant I Have the Room Above Her (ECM, 2005), this is another master painting by these fine artists. Jazz has always favored individual voices and expressionism, and these players have proven themselves undisputed masters on their instruments. But jazz also favors teamwork, something that is definitely evident on Time and Time Again. Several decades ...
Continue ReadingPaul Motian: Voices and Portrait in Jazz
by Francis Lo Kee
Marc CoplandNew York Trio Recordings Vol. 2: VoicesPirouet2008 Bill EvansPortrait in JazzRiverside-Concord2008 Paul Motian is a catalytic musician. His imaginative playing shapes the sound of a project in a way that most other drummers would generally not consider. Where most drummers would simply keep some kind of steady beat through an entire piece, or ...
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