#paul motian trio

[radiophd]

paul motian trio ft. bill frisell, joe lovano -- portrait of t.

[allmusic]

AllMusic Staff Pick Paul Motian Trio Le Voyage

Paul Motian's second late-'70s trio excursion with Charles Brackeen on saxophones substitutes Jean-François Jenny Clark for David Izenson on bass with no drop-off in quality, but definitely one in mood. Tadayuka Naitoh's cover photo -- three blurry figures in black against an amorphous color backdrop (could be bundled-up women waiting at a crossroads) -- is a pretty good visual representation of the introspective, abstract flavor of Le Voyage.

- Don Snowden

[jazzdailyblog]

The Brilliance of Keith Jarrett: A Jazz Legend

Introduction: Keith Jarrett is a name synonymous with virtuosity, innovation, and boundless creativity in the world of jazz. Born seventy-nine years ago today on May 8, 1945, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Jarrett’s musical journey began at a young age. His prodigious talent was evident early on, and he quickly established himself as a gifted pianist and composer. Early Career and Formation of the…

[asmallexperiment]

I know it's only been a week, but I'm bringing Charlie Haden back, this time has part of the Keith Jarrett Trio with Paul Motian. Some people don't love this because if you listen to enough Jarrett, there's typically a lot more rhythmic angularity and harmonic complexity. This really is just a bluesy folk song--Somewhere Before is right after Restoration Ruin--and I feel like you can hear him working out what he wants to do with what was then the new popular music.

I love Motian on this. It's just propulsive enough and then he pushes things for three minutes and then elegantly gives Haden a little more room for his solo and gradually brings things around again.

Bob Dylan, too, for writing a hell of a song.

[musicollage]

Bill Evans Trio – How My Heart Sings! 1964 : Riverside.

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[projazznet]

Remembering William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980)

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard

Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a 1961 album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. The album is routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time.

Bill Evans – piano Scott LaFaro – bass Paul Motian – drums

[joshhaden]

"Live In Hamburg 1972" (2008) is a bootleg CD recorded in concert by the Keith Jarrett Trio. It received an official release a few years later on ECM. w/ my father & drummer Paul Motian.

[dustedmagazine]

Derek Bailey / Paul Motian — Duo in Concert (frozen reeds)

Specializing in archival recordings, the Helsinki frozen reeds label has come up with another doozy. This time unearthing in the Incus archives previously unreleased concert recordings of guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Paul Motian for the release "Duo in Concert." Released at the tail-end of 2023, the LP version captures the duo live at the 1990 Jazz Marathon at De Oosterpoort festival in the city of Groningen, the Netherlands. As bonus digital tracks, the label offers recordings made at the New Music Cafe in New York City in 1991. A conversation between Bill Frisell and Henry Kaiser discussing these recordings and their collective experiences playing with Bailey and Motian is included as liner notes.

It's hard to approach a recording from two of my all-time favorite artists with any sense of objectivity, not to mention a heavy dose of expectation. And with a pairing that — at least on paper — doesn't immediately make outright sense, a certain degree of trepidation preempts the initial listening process as well. Accounts of both Bailey and Motian's contrariness and adversarial approach to performing are legion. Having seen both musicians live, I always had the feeling that everything could go off the rails at any moment. There was a certain sense of peril and uncertainty that pervaded their music — and not only because what they were doing was risky but more because they didn't seem to adhere to any rules of musical decorum.

When I first saw Bailey play solo in the mid-1980s, he broke off his set mid-concert to start sharing what seemed like random anecdotes with the audience, then picked right back up and started to play all over again. He stopped abruptly once more a bit later to tune his guitar (actually not much unlike what goes on in Indian classical music). It was almost as if he didn't see the point of himself being there. What he played — when he actually played — was undeniably brilliant. But his attitude came across as ambivalent and irascible, to say the least.

Similarly when I caught Motian in the early 1990s with his trio of Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, he seemed to revel in the act of eloquent disruption, of not letting things ride but of seeking to derail and create situations where the music took sudden turns down unknown roads. Motian soloed like a kid discovering the drums for the first time, alternately bashing the toms or dropping bombs of bass drum cymbal crashes, then suddenly shifting to exquisite brush work on the snare, echoing his time with Bill Evans.

So, what was I to think of this improbable pairing? Obviously, from the start I was rooting for them. These guys were my heroes. But heroes also fall. I'm happy to say that over repeated listens "Duo in Concert" did not disappoint for one second of these recordings. It would be interesting to know if this concert in Groningen was their first meeting, or if they'd had the chance to play together in a more informal setting beforehand, because the 35-minute set sounds so fresh and invigorating. As if they had met for the first time, discovering their shared language and limitations in real-time before a festival audience. Adding to this the music also comes across as very intimate, as if Motian and Bailey had already played many years together and were picking up on a conversation they'd been having the last time they met. Consequently, both players sound not only completely engaged with the music, but actually excited by what they're coming up with. Practically as though they found themselves in a perpetual state of surprise and delight for the entire length of the concert. "Duo in Concert" is truly an inspiring listen.

There is much to expect that actually transpires: Bailey's spikey, chromatic fields played in jagged rhythmic runs across an incredibly wide dynamic range, spanning the spectrum from ringing harmonics on the verge of feedback to barely caressing the strings with his pick. And then there's Motian's incredible brush work paired with bombastic tom fills and tremorous bass drum drops. The real mystery is how this all manages to coalesce into — for lack of a more apt expression — an undeniable example of sheer poetry in sound. The mutual respect and inspiration between Motian and Bailey so evident in these recordings is in itself one of the most compelling aspects of this release.

A major unifier here would have to be Bailey and Motian's shared backgrounds in jazz. Bailey used to refer to himself in his earlier musical incarnation as previously sounding something like Jim Hall. But of course by the mid-1960s had realized he would, as Henry Kaiser states in the liner notes, have to depart for Planet Improv and leave the world of jazz behind. By this point in his long career Motian still had certainly more invested in the jazz tradition but seemed not to worry about what this meant. He'd long since moved on beyond what the rule keepers of the jazz world had imposed. Yet Motian also never went totally free like Bailey. And in fact, this would be the first record I'd heard where Motian plays from scratch, without any vague road map or composition to steer the musical proceedings.

But it is precisely this jazz background which lends an unmistakable narrative thread to the concert at Groningen. Bailey and Motian's collaboration is truly like a conversation in the most literal sense of the word. And like the greatest musical conversations in the context of jazz music, both players join together for this one brief point in time to tell a story together, listening and building their musical ideas from their dialogue. As hackneyed as this may sound, the end effect is a perfect example of instant composing, of creating a totally cohesive, rigorously structured piece of music from thin air.

And this encompasses  signifiers of a more narrative approach along the way: towards the midpoint of the set, Bailey fades out to let Motian take the practically obligatory drum solo, a roiling, thunderous affair across the toms and cymbals. This is followed by Bailey jumping back in with what in a more conventional jazz piece, could be the main soloist picking up again with another long passage. Along the way Bailey engages in some of the most impressionistic and nearly melodic playing I've ever heard from him, even approaching what one could construe as comping rapid chord variations to Motian's hard-driving pulse. The set ends with Motian playing a very grooving swing pattern on the high hat that not only absolutely works with Bailey's field of dissonant harmonic notes but is in itself a stroke of genius, melding the two worlds of jazz and obdurate free improvisation with a gesture of contrast and a nod to the history both of these musicians had left far behind but by no means forgotten.

For fans of Derek Bailey and Paul Motian "Duo in Concert" is an absolute must listen. For those unfamiliar with either of these artists' work, this release would be a great place to start, not only because it captures them both at the height of their powers but is also a convincing and highly moving documentation of free improvised music that shouldn't be missed.

Jason Kahn

[jazzplusplus]

1985 - Jazz à l'Ouest - Maison de la Culture de Rennes

Big Band de Lorient

Clark Terry Quintet

Paul Motian Trio

Chico Freeman Group

Jimmy Slyde

Xavier Cobo Quartet

Jean-Louis Chautemps

...

[theloniousbach]

CONSIDERING KEITH JARRETT’S AMERICAN QUARTET

At the end of February, pianist/critic Ethan Iverson called his Transitional Technology/Do the Math readers’ attention to an YouTube interview with Keith Jarrett conducted by Rick Beato. Besides archival performances, commentary, and conversation, there were incredibly poignant latter-day one handed performances. Post-strokes the genius is still there, but it is cut literally in half.

Keith Jarrett was hugely influential on me as a new jazz fan. As with so many, that he played with Miles Davis (electric piano and organ (!?!) on at Fillmore and Live-Evil) put him on my radar. I had the Bremen/Lausanne solo concerts even before the justly legendary Koln. I had Belonging by the European Quartet and Reflections and Fort Yawuh with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian. I also really liked the album with Gary Burton from this same period. More on that later.

I liked my albums and played them frequently. When the 10 discs of Sun Bear came out as the next solo concerts, that was too expensive for me to be a completist. As remarkable as Bremen/Lausanne and Koln were, I felt I knew what Jarrett was up to. Those vamps, melodies, gospel elements, free breakdowns were also present in the band records. It was all conceptually fascinating, but the experiments and juxtapositions were always adventurous but not always successful. In the moment, there too I thought I had a bead on what was going on, but didn’t think I needed more.

When I returned to the music, the Standards Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette better suited my aesthetic. I found “my” albums again and gave them a single fond refamiliarizing listen. I have now listened to all the American Quartet albums and a 3 1/2 hours playlist derived from Iverson’s extensive, tune-by-tune review of the band’s entire output. He is quite impressed with the later Shades of Jazz and some of Bya-Blue too.

But with those exceptions, I don’t think I missed that much and so bristle a little bit at the suggestion that this was the last great band. As a contrarian, I nominate the Dave Holland Quintet and maybe Woody Shaw’s band. But it was something special—a young phenom recruits the elders Paul Motian from THE Bill Evans Trio and Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden from Ornette Coleman and ambitiously mashes them up with elements of his own aesthetic from the solo concerts.

It’s an interesting mix—Motian’s free sense of time up against Haden’s solidity with Redman’s earthy primitivism at the service of Jarrett’s capacious vision. Again, it’s not always successful, but they are unavoidably interesting.

Iverson doubles down on a judgment drawn from initial reportage that Jarrett didn’t do his bebop homework because of this:

“In the Beato video, Jarrett says that when he was finding his voice, he didn’t want to play modal like McCoy Tyner. He then says he wanted to be more “Bach-ian,” meaning voice-leading in the contrapuntal European tradition like Bach.”

So, yes, Jarrett has a cerebrality that maybe wears thin or that prompts admiration first with affection following—or not.

But the other interesting idea is that there is a Midwestern “country” or at least folk aesthetic that draws on major chords. Iverson draws a line that also includes Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Gary Burton, and even Ornette—and maybe Fred Hersch from Cincinnati belongs too. And that makes the Jarrett/Burton album stand out as probably the best Jarrett band album. Burton and Steve Swallow with his compositions structure and rein in Jarrett while he adds to a tough appealing set.

I am left after this valuable exercise with fond memories and admiration for Keith Jarrett, but my affection still lags.

[chansonsinternationales]

Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian, un trio de rêve...(clin d'oeil à Alex Dutilh pour ses 40 ans de radio)

[lesondesmusicales]

Paul Motian Trio - It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago (Trioism)

[prgnant]

I don’t like bill frisell that much cause to me he represents this americana folksy turn that a lot of contemporary jazz is still kinda obsessed with that’s just not my thing but that trio had legendary chemistry and it’s mostly paul motians drumming that makes it work imo

[jazzdailyblog]

Scott LaFaro: Revolutionizing the Role of the Bass in Jazz

Introduction: Scott LaFaro was a jazz bassist whose brief yet impactful career revolutionized the role of the bass in jazz. Best known for his groundbreaking work with the Bill Evans Trio, LaFaro’s innovative approach to bass playing helped to redefine the possibilities of the instrument, inspiring generations of bassists to come. In this blog post, we will explore the life, music, and legacy of…

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

Bill Evans Trio - A Musical analysis (sheet music)

Bill Evans Trio - What Is This Thing Called Love? A Musical analysis (with sheet music)Bill EvansBest Sheet Music download from our Library.Please, subscribe to our Library. Thank you!What Is This Thing Called Love? Melody analysisChromatic scale.Best Sheet Music download from our Library.Chromatic Approximations.Arpeggios.Half-Whole/Whole-Half scale.Quartal chords.Browse in the Library:Black and Eighth note triplets.Please, subscribe to our Library. Thank you!

Bill Evans Trio - What Is This Thing Called Love? A Musical analysis (with sheet music)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSr52pyHBDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22RsHA4K7I

Bill Evans

Bill Evans was born on August 16, 1929 in New Jersey and died on September 15, 1980. According to Piano Red in his blog (2012) at the age of 6 he began his studies of classical piano musicals at College Southeastern Louisiana and in 1950 obtained his bachelor's degree of piano performer and teacher, with a completely classical repertoire, with works by great composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Kavalevsky and Beethoven. Piano Red on his blog (http://www.pianored.com/bill-evans.html) mentions: Evans does not he was only a pianist, he also studied flute and violin. He also studied composition at the Mannes College of Music in New York. In 1956, the first Evans album was released and was titled 'New Conceptions of Jazz' and that is how his most beloved and recognized saw the light composition “Waltz for Debby”. Because of his improvisational way, ideas and unique sound, he gradually became recognized within the jazz scene in the great city of New York. It is reported that it was not until 1958 that Miles Davis proposed to join his group, where the renowned musicians were also Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane; together with this great staff they recorded in 1959 the album “Kind Of Blue” and remains with them for almost a year traveling and recording. The job performed together with Miles and everything learned helped this great pianist to strengthen his reputation of his and in 1959 Bill founded his innovative trio with an incredible staff in which he is Scott LaFaro on bass and with Paul Motian on drums. With this trio they make two albums of studio, in addition to the highly regarded live sessions at the Village Vanguard in New York, in the year 1961. In the year 1963, his album 'Conversations With Myself' was released, thus earning him his first Grammy. A year later, he toured abroad, playing in cities like Paris and Tokio. With the passage of time, Evans' reputation grew, and he began to play in the most acclaimed clubs. In the 1970s he did hard work and recorded extensively various projects such as trios, solo piano, some quintets under his own name. In 1978, he forms what will be his last joint trio of him with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on the drums. However, not everything was rosy in the personal life of Bill Evans since his childhood he lived in a chaotic home reigned by excessive alcohol on the part of his father, which led him to lack stability in his personal life. Bill Evans in his adulthood he had family problems and disorders in his life, mostly the main cause was addiction to narcotics. However, this was not an impediment to continuing with the music, and he continued working even though his health was gradually deteriorating. In the 1970s, Evans turned away from heroin, which was not an efficient outlet since he became addicted to cocaine. It was not long after that, on September 15, 1980, he was taken to the Mount Sinai Hospital and there he would pass away due to a bleeding ulcer, cirrhosis of the liver, pneumonia and chronic hepatitis. Outside the musical aspect, Bill Evans was a lover of reading, philosophy, having a library full of great philosophers of that area. He was very attracted to painting and drawing. A music critic qualified it and pointed out as follows: “Over time, Bill Evans has become a whole school for pianists” (Richard S. Ginell, s.f.). There is no doubt that knowing the history of this great pianist makes us appreciate and understand in a better way how it is that Bill Evans, with a training early in classical music, made jazz an innovative world. What Is This Thing Called Love? Melody analysis Chromatic scale. A chromatic scale is the succession of twelve different notes within a single eighth. Ascending and descending by semitones. However, when ascending they use sharps and when descending they use flats, as in the following example.

Ascending Descending

Mesure 25 In general, this is a very used melodic and harmonic resource in jazz. However, the sound of Bill Evans in most of his solos is present in the chromatic scale. This may or may not be in complete order.

Mesure 50

What Is This Thing Called Love? Mesures 67-68, Unordered chromatic scale Chromatic Approximations. A chromatic approximation is usually not diatonic to the key being played, exerting on the musical theme and moves by semitones towards a target note (Pease & Freeman, 1989). Bill Evans usually always made these kinds of approximations, but the target note always rests on a figure of long value, in this case on a quarter note, which gives a total feeling of stability.

Mesure 98. In the previous figure, it should be noted that sometimes the approximation can also solve a tension, in this case the 13th.

Mesures 102-103.

Mesure 121.

What Is This Thing Called Love? Mesure 123 Arpeggios. First, we must define it. According to Latham (2008): 'An arpeggio is when the notes of a chord are played successively either ascending or descending, instead of being executed simultaneously'. (p.113)

Example of arpeggio in Cmaj7 Within Bill Evans' improvisation, we find arpeggios, but sometimes he makes them from his root and other times from one of his possible inversions. Most of the time, the rhythm that these arpeggios are played are in eighth note triplets or black triplets or in turn triplets where these two figures are mixed.

Mesure 13

Mesure 14

Mesre 17

Mesure 69 Half-Whole/Whole-Half scale. This type of scales, also called symmetric scales or “combination diminished”, are scales that move by “semitone – tone” or “tone – semitone”. Bill Evans makes use of these scales when he has dominant chords with tensions like T9 (please, watch the below images).

Mesure 47

Mesure 76

Mesure 108 Harmony Quartal chords. A quartal chord is one that in its structure is formed by intervals of a fourth, sometimes there is an interval of a third. These kinds of chords do clearly denote Bill Evans' classical initial musical training on the piano. Can we take as an example Erik Satie, a French composer belonging to the period of the Vanguardism and the genre of 'Classical Music', who in his work 'Les Files Des Étoiles' makes use of quartal chords and a tritone which provokes a feeling like that of an announcement or revelation?

First bars of the work of “Les Files Des Étoiles”, by Erik satie It is very relevant to take this example into account, since this type of composers, Evans studied at the time of his classical training and, however, some time later this guy of harmonies was reflected in his improvisation, being very clear that he had an interest very great for joining classical musical practices with contemporary jazz. This type of chords are very characteristic within the improvisation of Bill Evans, which provokes a totally new, innovative, tense and modal sound. Another improvisational characteristic of Bill Evans is that when playing the quartal chords does it with a rhythm only in eighth notes, this topic will be treated in a better way in the last analysis.

Clusters. Before dealing with this scope, we will proceed to define it. Clusters are voices in which the predominant interval between the adjacent notes is of a second. This widely spaced voice creates an effect thick and dissonant. The voices that contain all the seconds create the level of maximum density. As other intervals are included, the voice opens and the density decreases. Because a smaller second interval is more dissonant than one of the major second, voices that contain at least one minor second will have more “bite” than those containing only second greater. (Pease & Pulling, 2001, p. 93) Bill Evans uses the clusters in the left hand always as comping6 in block while the right hand is improvising. Again this type of voicing Evans using them, he creates a totally enriching, modal and innovative atmosphere in a sound and theoretical context within the jazz.

Rhythmic In this last section of the analysis of the solo, What Is This Thing Called Love?, presents that Bill Evans' comping was not rhythmic enough, unlike other greats contemporary pianists of his time, such as Wynton Kelly, who had a high sense of the groove. In this solo the comping is quite limited, mostly eighth notes, which per bar he will play them at least twice. Evans notes that he emphasized giving more “Color” to the notes with the different tensions, of which he used the most b9, # 9, b13, which gives a modal character.

Mesures 95-96 Black and Eighth note triplets. First we proceed to the definition of these figures. The division of a figure without a dot into three equal parts receives the triplet name. The notation of this is made with a number three aligned with the central figure. If the triplet is applied to three crotchet figures that group them (Ottman & Mainous, 1979, p.122-123). These figures are very typical of Bill Evans within his improvisation, he is one of the characteristic features of him when differentiating his improvisational interpretation from other pianists. Usually these triplets in the melodic aspect are being played with arpeggios; They do not have a specific direction since it varies, that is, they go ascending or descending, what makes the difference is the color with which they are played, sometimes with arpeggios as already mentioned before or with chromatic approximations.

Mesures 13-16 In the above figure, it can be clearly seen how Evans not only uses one type of triplet, but it mixes them as in measure 14 which plays them in a semi-strong beat of the compass. In general, this type of triplets (mixed quarter note and eighth note) is interpreted in semi-strong or weak beats of the measure.

Now, in the following examples that are detailed, use the eighth note triplets and to their time also moves chromatically towards target notes of the chord.

Mesures 61-63

Bill Evans' improvisation is marked by originality, sonority and, above all, all the intention that in a certain way with it wants to reach or transmit a message of a search for something constant and innovative. The theme that has been analyzed was recorded at the time that Bill Evans was at the height of his musical career and where his knowledge acquired along with Miles and many other outstanding Jazz musicians were 'fresh', for what is the songs of the album 'Portrait in Jazz' of 1960, makes them look clearly like maintains throughout the record material, all these characteristic features. So, it is evident how it is that in its entirety the sound and features characteristics of Bill Evans were greatly influenced by classical music, the which was the gateway for him in the musical field. It is very clear to realize only with listen to him and as his improvisational development is very academic, however, his taste for knowing how to combine this genre and jazz make his interpretation something new, worthy of being named a new way of improvising. Read the full article

[1001albumsrated]

#30: Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard (1961)

Genre(s): Modal Jazz

This is one of those truly rare recordings that is just impossibly beautiful and impossibly ahead of its time. Sunday at the Village Vanguard is the culmination of everything Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro, and Paul Motian had worked together to create in the years following Bill's departure from Miles Davis' band following Kind of Blue. The musical synergy here is effortless, with the feel of players who have worked together for decades rather than a few years. Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian redefine the concept of what a jazz rhythm section is; gone are the walking bass lines and ride cymbal tapping, replaced by a more open, melodic approach that intertwines perfectly with Bill Evans' impressionistic approach to piano. The result is truly outstanding, with all three players operating at their peak.

Scott LaFaro, who would tragically die in a car accident 11 days after this recording, is the star of the show in many respects (if there can be such a thing on an album with such a strong collaborative spirit). He is, without a doubt, one of the best bassists of all time, and this is quite possibly his finest performance. Note that I didn't say jazz bassists, or upright bassists, just plain bassists. His approach and touch are unbeatable across the broad discipline of bass playing, and so unlike anything that came before and most things that came after. The cuts here were selected in particular to showcase his playing following his untimely passing (other selections from the same date can be heard on the also-excellent Waltz for Debby, or of course the 3CD complete sessions set).

That being said, let's not discount the contributions of Bill Evans and Paul Motian here. Bill is without a doubt one of the most elite jazz players of all time, with a style all his own. Paul Motian, much like Scott LaFaro did with bass, redefined the role of jazz drummer, moving the discipline away from simple timekeeping and towards a more dynamic, expressive style. Paul went on to have the widest-spanning career of anyone in the trip, spending a decade in Keith Jarrett's band during Jarrett's best years, and later in a great trio with modern jazz legends Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano.

The recording itself is also a thing to behold. It joins the upper echelon of great jazz recordings in small clubs. It really puts you in the room, with the clinks of glasses and light chatter throughout. The fidelity is top notch for the time as well.

The copy I listened to is the Keepnews Collection remaster on CD. I also have an earlier pre-remaster CD that I slightly prefer the sound of, but I find myself gravitating towards this copy more often on account of the more sensible tracklist layout (placing the alternate takes after the main album, whereas the earlier edition places alternate takes immediately after their respective album takes).

Anyways, I haven't exactly buried the lede here: this is one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, yes you MUST hear it before you die. This is one of the first albums I really got into when I was first getting into jazz, and it's just as great of a listen today as it was then. Go check it out ASANow.

Next time: Ray Charles is back with his genre-blending classic Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music!