PAUL
MOTIAN
Selected Recordings: rarum XVI
ECM
Paul Motian has proven to be one of jazz music’s
most long-lasting drummers, a performer who has never gone
out of style quite simply because his style is his own and
is never like anyone else’s. Though he is stylistically
light where Elvin Jones was heavy, he is similarly a drummer
who floats on the stream of the music and offers colorings
and shadings accordingly, as another pitched instrument
would. Over time, Motian has come to almost completely ignore
any sort of timekeeping role, relying on the spaces in and
around his playing and that of his cohorts to define the
elements of beat and time. Like Jones, Motian has taken
his very personal concept and language of the drum kit to
an extreme. Yet because he, like Jones, also is an artist
possessed of the greatest sensitivity to and appreciation
of what the musicians he plays with are doing, the result
is something so organic that one can scarcely imagine how
the role of the drummer could have been conceived in any
other way.
Since Motian developed much of his style and
certainly his conception of what the jazz trio was and could
do with pianist Bill Evans, it seems only natural that many
of Motian’s greatest collaborations have been with
pianists. Motian’s rarum collection opens
with “One In Four” by the Paul Bley Quartet.
Motian as done quite a bit of work with Paul Bley; this
selection comes from the CD The Paul Bley Quartet. The piece
demonstrates very clearly Motian’s approach, as his
drum work becomes another part of the conversation, well
integrated into the ensemble, yet able to stand out and
make a statement when necessary. The rest of the quartet
consists of guitarist Paul Frisell, another frequent Motian
collaborator, and woodwind player John Surman on soprano
sax. Motian’s other most famous piano collaborator
is Keith Jarrett, and here we hear the title track from
Motian’s album Conception Vessel, featuring
the pianist with Motian on percussion. Recorded in 1972,
it shows how current Motian’s direction was at a time
when many jazz musicians were beginning to consider experiments
with rock music and electronic instruments the last frontier.
From here the listener is taken back into
the 1970s, to two pianoless trios that Motian worked with
during the decade. These consist of Motian, saxophonist
Charles Brackeen, and either Davis Izenzon or J.F. Jenny-Clark
on bass. These performances find Motian’s style a
bit less abstract than those on the disc that fall chronologically
later. “Dance” finds Brackeen’s soprano
sax keening above the swirling roils of sound presented
by Motian and Izenzon. Motian’s solo here is powerful
and dramatic. “Asia,” from the same album, is
a delicate meditation, with Izenzon doing some muted bowing
while Motian plays a variety of percussion in addition to
drums. It’s a welcome opportunity to hear that Motian’s
style varies little whether he’s at the drum kit or
playing various percussion instruments—he’s
always about adding the additional shadings that give the
performance a great deal of additional depth.
The next two tracks come from Motian’s
1979 album Le Voyage. With Jenny-Clark on bass
this time, “Folk Song For Rosie” does indeed
evoke a folk melody. Like all of the work presented on rarum,
it is a Paul Motian composition and highlights his very
melodic side as well as reminding the listener that this
highly interactive drummer is also an excellent composer.
Jenny-Clark takes a really nice solo as well that is a bit
reminiscent of Charlie Haden, with whom Motian has frequently
collaborated. The final piece from this group, and this
period, is “Abacus.” It opens with a Motian
solo before Brackeen enters on tenor sax. Though much of
the piece features Brackeen in an extended solo cadenza,
Motian accompanies Jenny-Clark’s solo here with some
of the most straightforward post-bop drumming heard on the
collection. It demonstrates that Motian can play any style
he chooses.
Two other musicians with whom Motian has frequently
worked are saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell.
The three are heard as a trio on “It Should’ve
Happened a Long Time Ago from Motian’s 1984 album
of the same name. Featuring Frisell’s trademark washes
of guitar sound that can be as lonesome as a deserted interstate
highway cutting through the middle of nowhere, Lovano demonstrates
his ability to adapt to a musical environment in which he’s
not often heard. Again on this piece, Motian does some timekeeping
work that is almost traditional, but as always he puts his
own spin on the accents and the beat. It’s always
a triumph when several musicians with distinctive styles
can play together and have the result sound like more than
a collection of well-known musicians—such is the case
here. The group had played before, with the addition of
alto sax player Billy Drewes and bassist Ed Schuller, as
the Paul Motian Band, recording the album Psalm at
the end of 1981. “Fantasm” is a fairly free
piece, with Motian providing the glue for extended solos
by Schuller and Frisell. “Mandeville,” on the
other hand, is a breezy calypso that allows Motian to apply
his drumming technique on a style that is dependent for
its very identity on the beat. Drewes and Lovano solo beautifully
together, with Frisell weaving his slightly Hawaiian-sounding
guitar in and around the lines played by the two saxophones.
It’s a memorable track and a great ending for Motian’s
rarum collection.
Those who find Motian’s work here interesting
should also acquaint themselves with his post-ECM work.
It isn’t difficult to find recordings featuring Motian’s
work as a sideman—in 2004 he’s seemingly been
everywhere, playing on a number of recordings by some of
the leading jazzmen of the day.
