Paul Motian Room

During the 20 years that preceded this set, Paul Motian had led some of the most intriguing jazz groups around. For this project, his "Electric Bebop Band" consists of two tenors (Chris Potter and Chris Cheek), two guitars (Kurt Rosenwinkel and Brad Schoeppach), bassist Steve Swallow, and the leader himself on drums. With the exception of Motian's opening selection and a pair of originals by Rosenwinkel, the repertoire consists of three songs by Thelonious Monk and one tune apiece from Bud Powell, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Charlie Parker, and Rodgers & Hart. Essentially a straight-ahead bebop date, the most unusual aspect of the set (which unfortunately has no liner notes, so individual soloists are not identified) is that there are many sections where two different players solo together…

On Once Around The Room ECM recording artists and key jazz musicians from several generations unite in a small ensemble to celebrate the musical legacy of drum icon Paul Motian in a big way. Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro lead a party of seven through fiery originals that recall the idioms and idiosyncrasies which Motian brought to light over six influential decades behind the drums. Lovano and Motian had been intimate colleagues for many years with their most notable collaboration being the groundbreaking trio featuring Bill Frisell – the lineup released three albums on ECM. Jakob Bro on the other hand made his ECM debut on Paul’s album Garden of Eden (2006). On Once Around The Room, compositions by Joe and Jakob appear alongside collective improvisation and Motian’s own “Drum Music”, seamlessly tied together and developed by an accomplished musical collective with stalwarts Larry Grenadier, Thomas Morgan and Anders Christensen respectively on bass as well as drummers Joey Baron and Jorge Rossy.

The sum total of the nuanced, elliptical lyricism at the heart of Paul Motian's compositional method can be heard in the opening seconds of "Osmosis Part III," the first track from I Have the Room Above Her. Recorded for ECM – with producer Manfred Eicher, guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano – this date is Motian's first as a leader for the label in more than 20 years. This is the same team that recorded the seminal album It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago in 1984. At that time, Lovano and Frisell were just beginning to establish themselves as bandleaders though they had each recorded under their own names. The weight placed on each member of this band is tremendous since standard rhythmic and harmonic anchors such as bass and piano are absent.

Having a String Choir perform The Music of Paul Motian is certainly an attention-grabber if one knows anything about Paul Motian's contributions to the jazz world. Motian is a veteran drummer and a composer, not a member of a chamber group (although he started out on guitar early in his career before making the drums his main instrument). So what does a Motian-related project have to do with strings? This early-2010 recording, it turns out, finds guitarist Joel Harrison paying tribute to Motian with the help of fellow guitarist Liberty Ellman and a string quartet consisting of Christian Howes and Sam Bardfeld on violin, Dana Leong on cello, and Mat Maneri or Peter Ugrin on viola.

Drummer Paul Motian leads a septet here with saxophonists Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby (the tenor tandem of Charlie Haden's Not in Our Name) and three guitarists—-Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, and Jakob Bro—-along with Jerome Harris on bass. It's almost as if Motian has multiplied his usual all-star trio with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell, most recently heard on I Have the Room above Her.

Bill McHenry - Quartet Featuring Paul Motian (2003) {Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT160CD}
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© 2003 Fresh Sound New Talent | FSNT 160CD
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

Any musician who works so effectively against a common language, and uses cliché so little in the process, is worth listening to. There are tons of young jazz saxophonists out there pursuing ideas of harmony and structure and rhythm, but he has something rare going for him. He has a sound. Mr. McHenry is a fresh new voice: He can play with un-orthodox structure and get as free as you want, but he maintains a ripe, lovely tone straight out of the 1950's. Lyrical is probably the most overused word in jazz criticism, but if anyone deserves the word, Mr. McHenry is the one.

Recording information: RPM Studios, New York, New York (06/1993).Re-released months after 2005's superb I HAVE THE ROOM ABOVE HER, TRIOISM features the same lineup as the former album but dates back to 1994. Guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Joe Lovano, and drummer Paul Motian are all leaders in their own right, masters of their instruments, and deservedly revered. But this in no way resembles the standard all-star album full of flashy showboating and overly long solos. Instead, this set of all Motian originals offers up deeply introspective, impressionistic music, with the trio representing the paragon of subtle, intuitive group chemistry.