This moving tribute to Paul Motian, one of the great jazz drummers, known especially for his work with Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, was recorded exactly 10 years after his death in 2011, at age 80.
All participants are one-time colleagues of Motian. Joe Lovano was a member of Motian’s trio with guitarist Bill Frisell from 1981, while Jakob Bro – born in Denmark in 1978 – made his ECM debut on the drummer’s Garden Of Eden (2006). Lovano and Bro have brought together an unusual line-up. There are no less than three bassists – Larry Grenadier and Thomas Morgan, plus Anders Christensen on bass guitar – and two drummers, Joey Baron and Jorge Rossy.
Along with two Motian-influenced originals each by Bro and Lovano, the album includes a collective improvisation – On Sound Creation – and an interpretation of Motian’s composition Drum Music. On the free tempo As It Should Be, the first of two pellucid compositions by the saxophonist, the thrumming basses of Larry Grenadier and Thomas Morgan begin proceedings. Sound Creation begins lazily, in a slower free tempo, with Lovano’s tenor plus understated accompaniment.
Drum Music gets a fierce free jazz interpretation suffused with guitar feedback. The interpretation of Bro’s beautifully plangent ballad Song For An Old Friend – the first piece on the album with a groove – explores the stylistic area of Lovano’s trio with Motian and Frisell. The guitarist also wrote the gentle, Frisell-like Pause, which makes for an affecting conclusion to a beautiful and richly rewarding release.
Discography
As It Should Be; Sound Creation; For The Love Of Paul; Song To An Old Friend; Drum Music; Pause (40.23)
Lovano (ts, ss, tarogato); Bro (g); Larry Grenadier, Thomas Morgan, Anders Christensen (b); Joey Baron, Jorge Rossy (d). Copenhagen, November 2021.
ECM Records 4599490
