Cábala

What can we say? A classic album from John Dyson and Dave Ward-Hunt. The packaging has been completely revamped and has the sort of presence which an album of this calibre deserves. It quite simply contains pure 100% EM of the highest calibre and tackles styles across the spectrum, presenting epic Tangerine Dream style sequencing alongside stunning melodics.

This six-CD set, with recordings from 1972 to 1984, includes the albums Conception Vessel, Tribute, Dance, Le Voyage, Psalm and It Should’ve Happened A Long Time Ago. Paul Motian’s innovative drumming with the great trios of Bill Evans and Paul Bley had already assured him of a place in jazz’s history books, but Motian had not considered life as a bandleader until ECM proposed a recording session under his own name. “Conception Vessel” opened floodgates of creativity. Through these recordings we hear not only the evolution of several outstanding Motian ensembles and the birth of the enduring Motian/Frisell/Lovano trio, but also the growth of confidence of a unique jazz composer. In Paul’s music, memories of Turkish and Armenian melodies he had heard as a child were filtered through a love of jazz.