JSngry Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 He wasn't anybody other than somebody who played a lot of music really well for a very long time (you know, like everybody does...). If anybody needs more than that, keep looking. It's there (whatever it is, and wherever there is), and you might well encounter Paul Motian once or twice. For me, though, I'll listen to the Dewey/Haden/Motian trio (with or without the leader) dance like crazy on both sides of Bop-Be and be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValerieB Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 why are some people obsessed with COMPARING one musician to another, even on an obit thread?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 I will be listening to the Motian in my collection over the holiday. Like others, I very much enjoyed reading CT's NPR link. RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWayne Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Horrible news indeed. I have posted many wildly enthusiastic reviews of his various group performances on this forum over the years. He was my absolute favorite. Class guy and the consummate musician. Anything that he played he imbued with a new life and made it his own. I will miss his musings, performances, recordings, and inspiration. LWayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Reynolds Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 my favorite Motian recording is either the trio with Haden and Bley from Montreal from 1989 or the great "Not Two, Not One" with Peacock and Bley on ECM. and who brought up race?? egads... too bad for me that one of the upcoming shows I was to attend was going to be Motian with Angelica Sanchez, Ben Monder and Tony Malaby on FEB 4th at the Vanguard which would have been my first time seeing him play live - I am so sorry I didn't go this summer when he brought a band with Mat Maneri to the Vanguard. RIP, SIR!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsMobley Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Steve-- I didn't but someone damn sure should have. For a guy-- for a native Philadelphian, long-time New Yorker who's spent how many decades butchering Bud and Monk, the vast vast VAST majority of his sidemen have all-- ah, isn't this rather interesting-- been of a certain range of complexions? maybe it was coincidence. maybe it was cultural empathies. maybe there aren't any black or latin or _____ folk-- young, avant-, inside/out or otherwise-- whom he could have hired. that's "fine": white music is music too but please don't be surprised that a certain # of people ** noticed **. and for the record, Wynton's Monk is as bad or worse than Motian's so it's not a race thing re: interpretive nous. maybe after black Texicans Dewey Redman and Charles Brackeen there was nowhere to go but down? yet he made a jillion records with Lovano? so much for mentorship! (Or George Clinton's "Mothership.") i'm not proposing any answers but you gotta be deaf, dumb & blind not to ask the questions. my favorite Motian recording is either the trio with Haden and Bley from Montreal from 1989 or the great "Not Two, Not One" with Peacock and Bley on ECM. and who brought up race?? egads... too bad for me that one of the upcoming shows I was to attend was going to be Motian with Angelica Sanchez, Ben Monder and Tony Malaby on FEB 4th at the Vanguard which would have been my first time seeing him play live - I am so sorry I didn't go this summer when he brought a band with Mat Maneri to the Vanguard. RIP, SIR!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) would you care toe elaborate TTK? i'll listen but right now i don't hear it-- and still have to turn off WKCR when the horrible Lovano/Frisell group comes on. as I said, Pau Motian was a terrific musician but, unless one really means it (one might), it's silly to pretend every direction he went in was a worthwhile one, except, presumably, to him and the musicians he hired. and again, that Monk "tribute" (travesty) is utterly loathsome on every level, the drummer/bandleader's included. to read this thread, however, you'd think Motian was the white Baby Dodds, Jo Jones, Max Roach, Ed Blackwell all-in-one. "Life-changing." I used a banned review cliche in my eulogy. Brian: I believe you have a blog. Go masturbate there and stay away from RIP threads here. (I somehow doubt that at your passing you will get the kind of eulogies that Motian has received.) Edited November 24, 2011 by medjuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Reynolds Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 The guy brought the *great* Mat Maneri to the Village Vanguard maybe the great, late Papa Joe shoulda been in one of Paul's band. Can you imagine what that crowd woulda thunk when the Round Man played his version of Duke??? And was going to bring Tony Malaby to the Vanguard. Tony Malaby is no step down from Redman or Brackeen nor anyone else. now *that* is mentorship. I don't think Mat Maneri is allowed in without him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Goren. Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Anat Fort, Paul Motian, Gary Wang: Just Now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 From Bill Frisell: "No words for what I am feeling now. Music is good. Paul Motian was a MUSICIAN. He taught me, brought me up. Pointed the way. Showed me things I never could have imagined. Led me to places of extraordinary beauty. Indescribable. Paul never let up for one second. Raising it up. Always. No compromise. Listen to the MUSIC." Bill Frisell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 "my favorite Motian recording is either the trio with Haden and Bley from Montreal from 1989" agree-the trio had an edge that night and drained their considerable souls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeanyou Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Just found out today. It's really blown a hole in my week. Thanks for all the music, Paul. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Todays LA Times's obit page is taken up mainly with side by side obituaries of Motian and Russ Garcia http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 Wall Street Journal Associated Press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted November 24, 2011 Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 As none of us get to live forever and I'm not sure one would want to until that moment comes when you ARE leaving....Still, Motian left us with a lot of music and memories. Bless him. If you count yourself as a jazz fan and you don't have any albums with him on it, you might not be a jazz fan after all. Thank god not everyone who sits behind a kit is a basher. PM showed people what it was like to approach the drum kit from a different perspective. Not that he was the only one, mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 to read this thread, however, you'd think Motian was the white Baby Dodds, Jo Jones, Max Roach, Ed Blackwell all- That must be one of the most moronic sentences ever posted in a eulogy-thread... Motian is up there in that league, and you know it. Does it offend you that he wasn't of African-American heritage? Is it a plain and simple fact that he can't be in the big league because of his complexion? Do you use rest- and other rooms designated "for whites only" or what? Gee... Thank god not everyone who sits behind a kit is a basher. PM showed people what it was like to approach the drum kit from a different perspective. Not that he was the only one, mind you. You know, when I saw Motian live first (of two times), in 1996 with the "Three Guys" band (Konitz, Swallow, Motian), Lee Konitz played totally unamplified in a huge hall... that alone was amazing enough, since his fragile and lyrical sound had so much force and projected amazingly strong. Motian, though, played dense and driving drums, yet he never, ever was overbearing. The whole mix of power and intensity with lyrical, melodic playing, was most impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeanyou Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 1322111693' post='1156202'] Steve-- I didn't but someone damn sure should have. For a guy-- for a native Philadelphian, long-time New Yorker who's spent how many decades butchering Bud and Monk, the vast vast VAST majority of his sidemen have all-- ah, isn't this rather interesting-- been of a certain range of complexions? maybe it was coincidence. maybe it was cultural empathies. maybe there aren't any black or latin or _____ folk-- young, avant-, inside/out or otherwise-- whom he could have hired. that's "fine": white music is music too but please don't be surprised that a certain # of people ** noticed **. and for the record, Wynton's Monk is as bad or worse than Motian's so it's not a race thing re: interpretive nous. maybe after black Texicans Dewey Redman and Charles Brackeen there was nowhere to go but down? yet he made a jillion records with Lovano? so much for mentorship! (Or George Clinton's "Mothership.") i'm not proposing any answers but you gotta be deaf, dumb & blind not to ask the questions. 1322108160' post='1156198'] my favorite Motian recording is either the trio with Haden and Bley from Montreal from 1989 or the great "Not Two, Not One" with Peacock and Bley on ECM. and who brought up race?? egads... too bad for me that one of the upcoming shows I was to attend was going to be Motian with Angelica Sanchez, Ben Monder and Tony Malaby on FEB 4th at the Vanguard which would have been my first time seeing him play live - I am so sorry I didn't go this summer when he brought a band with Mat Maneri to the Vanguard. RIP, SIR!!!! Considering the level of animus you display concerning Paul Motian's apparent discriminatory hiring policies, did it ever cross your mind to contact him directly and make him aware of your concerns? Or censure him for the travesty of his Monk and Bill Evans tributes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Read the news of this whilst in London during the week and very sorry to hear it. I think I must have seen one of the last of Paul Motian's performances in the UK back in 2000 (I think). If my memory is right he was in Martin Speake's group - and was pretty low key but playing some exquisite stuff. He will be missed ! RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 [...] and again, that Monk "tribute" (travesty) [...] I love his versions of Monk tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DobermanBoston Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 So sad. My favorite Motian record is Dance, which was also David Izenson's last record if I'm not mistaken. Steve-Mat is a SUPERB violinist. I did not know Motian mentored him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Reynolds Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 all I know is that Mat Maneri played with his band this past summer at the Vanguard and it is hard ti imagine him being let on that stage without being in Paul's band. yes - Mat is one of the great improvisors in music today - Papa Joe used to say that he was the best musician is his band - even back in 1993 when they made those classic quartet recordings. I beg to differ as great as Mat is, Joe was on a different, yet much odder and abstract level. Let's see if Tony Malaby takes *that* stage from 1/31 through 2/5 now that Paul Motian is no longer with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Ted Pankin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 Ted Pankin. That's a great article - thanks for posting the link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted November 27, 2011 Report Share Posted November 27, 2011 It's a real shame that the Lowell Davidson trio recording mentioned in the interviews is lost... would love to hear that. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) Ethan Iverson's commentary Edited December 3, 2011 by Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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