25.03. – Happy Birthday !!! Although he studied drums in the Navy School of Music in Washington, there has never been anything militaristic about Paul Motian’s prolific work as a jazz drummer.
In the mid-1950s, he played with a host of jazz stars including Stan Getz, George Russell and Thelonious Monk, but his major association was with pianist Bill Evans, both in Evans’s trio and as a member of other groups, such as the quartet led by clarinettist Tony Scott.
With Bill Evans, he developed a way of playing that mirrored the pianist’s phrasing and approach, often abandoning aspects of the drummer’s traditional time-keeping role. He went on to prove that he is one of the finest trio drummers in jazz history, working with the free-jazz influenced group of Paul Bley and the more wide-ranging Keith Jarrett Trio. During the decade he played with Jarrett (1967-76), Motian developed a particular rapport with bassist Charlie Haden, in whose own groups he toured and recorded from time to time, from the 1960s to the 1990s.
From the late 1970s, Motian has mainly fronted his own groups, ranging from the excitement of his Electric Bebop Band (which pitted two guitarists against a saxophone player, backed by bass and drums) to more conventional jazz trios and quartets. His long-standing trio with saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell is particularly noteworthy.
A masterfully subtle drummer and a superb colorist, Paul Motian was also an advanced improviser and a bandleader with a taste for challenging post-bop. Born Stephen Paul Motian in Philadelphia on March 25, 1931, he grew up in Providence and began playing the drums at age 12, eventually touring New England in a swing band. He moved to New York in 1955 and played with numerous musicians — including Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Coleman Hawkins, Tony Scott, and George Russell — before settling into a regular role as part of Bill Evans’ most famous trio (with bassist Scott LaFaro), appearing on his classics Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.
In 1963, Motian left Evans’ group to join up with Paul Bley for a year or so, and began a long association with Keith Jarrett in 1966, appearing with the pianist’s American-based quartet through 1977. In addition, Motian freelanced for artists like Mose Allison, Charles Lloyd, Carla Bley, and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Ensemble, and turned down the chance to be John Coltrane’s second drummer.
Conception Vessel In 1972, Motian recorded his first session as a leader, Conception Vessel, for ECM; he followed in 1974 with Tribute. He formed a regular working group in 1977 (which featured tenor Joe Lovano) and recorded several more dates for ECM, then revamped the ensemble to include guitarist Bill Frisell in 1980. Additional dates for ECM and Soul Note followed, and in 1988 Motian moved to JMT, where he recorded a long string of fine albums beginning with Monk in Motian. During the ’90s, he also led an ensemble called the Electric Bebop Band, which featured saxophonist Joshua Redman, guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and Brad Shepik, and bassist Stomu Takeishi. In 1998, Motian signed on with the Winter & Winter label, where he began recording another steady stream of albums, including 2000 + One in 1999, Europe in 2001, and Holiday for Strings in 2002.
I Have the Room Above Her In 2005, Motian moved to the ECM label, releasing I Have the Room Above Her that same year, followed by Garden of Eden in 2006 and Time and Time Again in 2007. In 2009, he released his fifth in his series of standards albums with On Broadway, Vol. 5 and returned in 2010 with the trio album Lost in a Dream on ECM. The following year, Motian released several albums including Consort in Motion, his exploration of Renaissance and Baroque composers on Kind of Blue, the concert album Live at Birdland on ECM, and Windmills of Your Mind featuring guitarist Bill Frisell on Winter & Winter.
A hugely influential drummer, bandleader, composer, and a journeyman live performer, Motian died from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disorder, early in the morning on November 22, 2011 in New York City. He was 80 years old. The album Further Explorations featuring pianist Chick Corea and bassist Eddie Gomez appeared posthumously on Concord in January, 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3a2aYLuSdg
