Paul Motian - Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note

MY REVIEW HAS BEEN INCORRECTLY POSTED BY AMAZON FOR THE ECM BOX SET. THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE BLACK SAINT/SOUL NOTE BOX SET.Drummer Paul Motian has been playing fine jazz in groups under his own name, as a valuable addition to other groups, and in duo settings, for many years. This collection brings together his work for the Black Saint/Soul Note label during the years 1983 through 1995. As with other sets in this great series, there's no booklet-only whatever information that's on the back of the outer box, or on the back (and oftentimes in very small font) of the original album covers. The remastered sound is very good throughout-clean and open. The discs slip bare, into a cardboard holder, and all the discs are inside a substantial lidded box. These are the original releases-there's no bonus tracks appended to any album.The first album, "The Story of Maryam" (1983), finds Motian playing with several musicians in a group that had been together for a couple of years. Besides Motian, there's Jim Pepper-tenor sax, Joe Lovano-tenor/soprano sax, Bill Frisell-guitar, and Ed Schuller-bass. Playing with people familiar with Motian's music is a real plus here. This album, compared to some of Motian's ECM work, is relatively unknown. The playing here isn't typical of Motian's quieter work when he recorded for ECM. What we have is an album that's relatively visceral sounding-especially compared to his earlier work. The tunes at times are almost in a modern/bop style, driven along by Motian's work as well as the band. Frisell's impressionistic guitar is all over the first track, "9 X 9", and plays the same role throughout the album. With two horns Motian had the chance to up the feel of the music, and both Lovano and the relatively unknown Pepper acquit themselves nicely-playing in an edgier fashion than on previous recordings. The pairing of the two horns is a good one. Their individual tones float in and out of each other, and when playing in unison, their sound is gorgeous. As always, the fine bassist Schuller is right on the mark, playing some dense yet musical notes that fit seamlessly with both Motian and the rest of the group. Here I have to say that the tune "Trieste" is simply beautiful-from Frisell's understated wanderings, to the horn players reserved yet beautiful sound-it all works. The (readable) notes on the album, by Nat Hentoff, are informative-a plus."Jack of Clubs" (1984), is the same group as above but the playing seems (at times) a bit to self-serving in the "edgy" department. Don't get me wrong, there's still some good jazz from this group, but at times it seems as if Motian is pushing his music to self-consciously into a different area than his previous work. Growth is fine and needed, but sometimes the music doesn't have the true ring of authenticity-rather it's reactionary. This album (especially for those who like Motian's ECM albums "Conception Vessel", "Tribute", "Le Voyage", etc.) is a different animal from what most Motian fans have previously heard. But like "The Story...", there's some great music on this disc. The title track gives everyone a chance to solo-abstractly-but the finish is beautiful. "Cathedral Song" is a quiet, slow tempo tune, with some impressionistic playing by the entire band. This lengthy tune gives the band a chance to spread out and play. "Split Decision" is up tempo-something akin to post-modern be-bop. The contrast between this tune and the previous music gives added interest and balance to the album. Motian wrote all the compositions, and the best of the subtle writing and playing slips inside your head before you know it."Misterioso" (1986), is again the same players from above. Motian (and the band) explore some different tempos in combination with well played standards and Motian's compositions. The playing is heartfelt and beautiful here-as if Motian has found a groove that suits his playing. Individual band members play with great care and emotion on the best of these tracks, and they bring this music to the upper reaches of good jazz. This is one of the high points of this collection. The continued use of, basically, the same players is a real advantage-they meld and flow together only musicians who know each others music can do. The title track, written by Thelonious Monk, still retains it's original feel. Another Monk tune, "Pannonica", has Lovano out front with Frisell's guitar playing tones of sound-all the while Motian's understated time keeping keeps things moving along nicely."Notes" (1987), is oftentimes found under Paul Bley's name. It's his album fully as much as Motian's-perhaps more so. But that doesn't really matter because the playing is on some kind of intuitive level. Bley has played just about every kind of jazz there is, and in just about every size group there is. The interplay between the drums and the piano requires some intent listening, but the rewards are worth it. The sounds that Motian can get from a drum kit takes his playing into another area of jazz. Combined with Bley, who is an intelligent, thoughtful player, you have a duo performance that's alive with feeling, intelligence, and atmosphere. This is a subtle recording-but the best of this music is rewarding. The relatively short pieces (all under six minutes) keeps the music, and the musicians, from wandering around each other in lengthy solos-which oftentimes in a duo setting, spells musical death."One Time Out", (1987), has Motian in a trio setting with Lovano and Frisell. This is, in part, an homage to Thelonious Monk's sound (they play his "Monk's Mood"), with the trio laying out and dissecting both standards ("If You Could See Me Now") and Motian's music. With Lovano knowing this music intimately, the trio play with great authority, yet the overall feeling is somewhat low-key. Not something usually found in a lot of Monk's music, more so in Motian's writing. Frisell brings a somewhat different sound to the compositions-he's all over this music-playing in and around both Lovano and Motian. This was a period when Monk had a real influence on Motian, and the writing, the song choice and the playing bring that to light-no matter if playing a standard, one of Motian's compositions, or a Monk tune."Flux And Change", (1995), is a duo with the fairly unknown (especially in the U.S.) pianist Enrico Pieranunzi (who has a box set in this same series with this album as part of the set) and Motian. Pieranunzi is a fine composer and player. He's played for some years in Europe, and his playing style is relatively straightforward. At times he sounds similar to Bill Evans or (possibly) early Herbie Hancock. Unlike many European players, his style isn't abstract, and therefore difficult to follow. Together this pairing play some very good, almost straight jazz. With so much room, both musicians bring a lot of color to the music and the tempo shifts keep things alive-never really bogging down in over playing, or playing over each other. This is a good, well constructed album of jazz. The short pieces are arranged in three suites, which give body to the music. More jazz fans should hear Pieranunzi with his own groups (especially "Isis", "Deep Down", "No Man's Land") for his combination of both previous piano styles, and his use of more modern techniques such as modal playing and shifting rhythms. But here, Motian is a good player for Pieranunzi to play off of and with, as they explore some good compositions.This is another good set of music from this label. Motian is one of those drummers who often plays outside the strict mode of time-keeping. His style is both thoughtful and exciting. Having played early on with Bill Evans influenced his approach to music and his writing style. If you're contemplating purchasing this set (or any of the others), don't wait to long-they sell fast and then the price shoots up drastically-if you can find them at all. This box set (and the others in this series) are fine documents of how much jazz was supported in Europe, in an era when the music was faltering in the U.S. But, thankfully, Europeans have wholeheartedly taken jazz into their collective view of important art, and now we can hear this great music in one neat box set.

This box sets encompasses about ten years of music by one of the legends of jazz drumming. It ranges from the early 80s to the early 90s when Paul Motian recorded for the Italian avantguarde companies Black Saint and Soul Note. Three of the six CDs are by the working band including Jim Pepper (ss/ts), Joe Lovano (ts), Bill Frisell (g), Ed Schuller (b) and Motian. A stripped down version of this quintet makes for a fourth disc 'One Time Out' in which Motian is accompanied by Lovano and Frisell (a long lasting and successful trio which produced several more records under other labels). To more CDs see Motian playing alongside two prominent pianists, Paul Bley and Enrico Pieranunzi. For me this is music of a very high calibre, I was only familiar with the music of the trio, which I liked a lot, but the quintet is for me even better, particularly due the excellence of both Pepper and Schuller. Although the two duo albums are very different, there is a perceivable consistency in thethe musical concept. The music is constantly adventurous, and it has its own very distinct footprint. You would not confuse it with anything else. People keep saying that the Motian you hear here has nothing to do with the one who played in the famous Bill Evans trio, but I can hear elements of that drumming style in these discs. I am not a great fan of Bill Frisell or of the electric guitar in jazz, but he makes sense in this context and infact provides a fundamental contribution to the distinctveness of the output. Lovano is wonderful throughout.The five CDs come in cardboard sleeves that reproduce the original album artwork, bu all the basic information is available (recording date, personnel and in some cases also liner notes). All together it's very sensible packaging, a coherent musical ouput and a very reasonable prize. I am infact looking forward to get some other box sets from this particular edition, with the George Russell's and Bill Dixon's at the top of my priority list.I really recommend it, but just one small note of warning, this music will not appeal to everybody as you need to have a ear for experimental music, though not wildly so. Also one note on the packaging, note that on the back cover of the box set the album called 'Flux and Change' is given as a duo between Bley and Motian, but in fact the pianist is Pieranunzi, as the reproduction of the original sleeve inside the box will correctly tell you. It is an unfortunate mistake and I wonder whether it has contributed to the odd choice of including this same album also in the Pieranunzi's set, which is part of the same series. If you want both box sets - and they both may well be worth buying - this CD will therefore be duplicated.

Paul Motian,on pense aussi B.Evans ou K.Jarrett...Inséparables dans la légende du Jazz post sixties.Mais son oeuvre personnelle est aussi considérable.Les 6 albums Soul Note rassemblés dans ce commode petit coffret (sauf pour les notices!)se situent au milieu de sa carrière.Les 4 premiers ont,certainement fait beaucoup pour la carrière de Joe Lovano (ténor) et Bill Frisell (guitare).2 sont des duos (magnifiques)avec les pianistes Paul Bley et Enrico Pierannunzi.De la jouissance musicale assurée.A possèder absolument!