Post by alunsevern on Apr 22, 2024 10:11:24 GMT
It's hard to believe that it will be thirteen years this November since the drummer, composer and band leader Paul Motian died. A week or so back I stumbled across the fine documentary about him, Motian in Motion and since then I have been trying to listen more methodically to the recordings I have in which he features -- and listening specifically for his drumming.
There are of course the recordings he made with the Bill Evans Trio (Explorations; Portrait in Jazz; Waltz for Debbie; Sunday at the VV; How My Heart Sings; Moonbeams; Trio 64), the early records with Jarrett, the quartet with Bill McHenry (fantastic sets, with or without Motian), the trio with Lovano and Frisell (less to my taste), the great late-80s record, Études, with Geri Allen and Charlie Haden, right through to further 'out' and freer work with Marilyn Crispell and -- his final recording, as it turned out -- Sunrise, with the Masabumi Kikuchi trio, a hushed and enigmatic record. (He even played with free improv guitarist Derek Bailey, which I didn't know, a set recently issued by a Finnish label called Frozen Reeds as Bailey/Motion Duo in Concert.)
In the documentary it is astonishing to hear Motian talking about playing with Monk, Coleman Hawkins, walking out on the Bill Evans Trio ('Bill was stuck,' he said in a later interview) -- this tough, pugnacious, funny New York Armenian hipster talking casually about a remote time when giants still walked the earth!
I've been searching for a listening 'project' to give my record playing a bit more direction (I hesitate to say 'purpose') and stumbling across the Motian documentary means I have found one.
Does anyone else have a listening 'project' underway?
There are of course the recordings he made with the Bill Evans Trio (Explorations; Portrait in Jazz; Waltz for Debbie; Sunday at the VV; How My Heart Sings; Moonbeams; Trio 64), the early records with Jarrett, the quartet with Bill McHenry (fantastic sets, with or without Motian), the trio with Lovano and Frisell (less to my taste), the great late-80s record, Études, with Geri Allen and Charlie Haden, right through to further 'out' and freer work with Marilyn Crispell and -- his final recording, as it turned out -- Sunrise, with the Masabumi Kikuchi trio, a hushed and enigmatic record. (He even played with free improv guitarist Derek Bailey, which I didn't know, a set recently issued by a Finnish label called Frozen Reeds as Bailey/Motion Duo in Concert.)
In the documentary it is astonishing to hear Motian talking about playing with Monk, Coleman Hawkins, walking out on the Bill Evans Trio ('Bill was stuck,' he said in a later interview) -- this tough, pugnacious, funny New York Armenian hipster talking casually about a remote time when giants still walked the earth!
I've been searching for a listening 'project' to give my record playing a bit more direction (I hesitate to say 'purpose') and stumbling across the Motian documentary means I have found one.
Does anyone else have a listening 'project' underway?