Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream

244

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

By

View read count
Paul Motian / Chris Potter / Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream
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 New York Trio Recordings Vol. 1: Voices (Pirouet Records, 2007) provides just a small slice of the magic he has made in his sideman stints during this millennium alone.

Lost in A Dream, recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York, finds Motian leading a trio featuring pianist Jason Moran and saxophonist Chris Potter. A close comparison can be made between this lineup and that of the drummer's long-standing trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano. Here, the switch of guitar with piano seems to lessen the lighter-than-air shimmer of the ensemble and add more gravity, depth and richness to the sound.

A sense of restraint and contemplation pervades, starting with "Mode VI." Potter's tenor sax cries with an aching beauty, while Moran places spare notes in perfect places on this tune, which sounds like a first cousin to Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear." Motian's drumming is covert—whispers and rustlings, muted splashes, like hearing a pebble dropped into a pond through the muffling effect of a stand of dense foliage.

"Casino" is even more unhurried, Motian and Moran more subtle. Motian is so subdued that probably only ECM Records' crystalline sound could work. The tune is pure poetry, as Moran takes a deep, inward journey on his solo, and Motian paints with faded pastels, watercolors that just hint and sigh about different hues.

The title tune has more momentum, with Motian becoming more a percussionist than painter, supplying a rhythm full of seemingly random, in-the-moment eccentricities that, with a complete lack of predictability, accentuate the work of his band mates.

Irvin Berlin's "Be Careful It's My Heart" is the lone cover on a set of the leader's originals. It injects a brief slice of familiarity to the proceedings, with Potter sounding especially robust in front of some of Moran's busier forays.

"Birdsong" has a dream-like feeling in the beginning, poignant and introspective. Moran's piano is at its most gorgeous here before Potter's sax rises in the direction of anguish and Motian's brushes rasp in soft caresses of the skins. Then they turn up the heat, on "Ten," with Moran and the leader both moving into more percussive modes, Motian rumbling, the piano jumbling into freer territory before Potter wails in on a tremolo.

Paul Motian playing in a trio—where his percussive poetry shines the brightest—is always excellent listening experience, and Lost in a Dream is one of his finest trio affairs. Gorgeous music!

Track Listing

Mode VI; Casino; Lost In A Dream; Blue Midnight; Be Careful It's My Heart; Birdsong; Ten; Drum Music; Abacus; Cathedral Song.

Personnel

Chris Potter: tenor saxophone; Jason Moran: piano; Paul Motian: drums.

Album information

Title: Lost In A Dream | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: ECM Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.