Paul Motian - Lost In A Dream (2010)

ECM 2128

http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2100/2128.php

* Chris Potter: tenor saxophone
* Jason Moran: piano
* Paul Motian: drums

01 - Mode VI
02 - Casino
03 - Lost In A Dream
04 - Blue Midnight
05 - Be Careful It's My Heart
06 - Birdsong
07 - Ten
08 - Drum Music
09 - Abacus
10 - Cathedral Song

Recorded live February 2009 at the Village Vanguard, New York.


Review
~~~~~~

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=35637
By John Kelman

Though he's led larger ensembles, drummer Paul Motian seems to be most
comfortableΓΓé¼ΓÇ¥or, at the very least, most interestedΓΓé¼ΓÇ¥in working within the
particular confines and freedoms of the trio. Whether it's his quarter century
old group with guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, or the early
saxophone/bass/drums trio of Dance (ECM, 1978) and Le Voyage (ECM, 1979), Motian
has spent much of his career as a leader exploring a format less intimate than
the duo, perhaps, but still small enough a conversational context to allow its
participants to speak with a single voice. Lost In A Dream, recorded live at New
York's Village Vanguard in the winter of 2009, features a new trio with
saxophonist Chris Potter, with whom Motian has worked since 1994, and pianist
Jason Moran, whose relationship with the iconic drummer is just beginning.

Being an all-acoustic ensemble, the trio lacks the inherent ethereality of
Motian's group with the electrically expansive Frisell, most notably on 2005's I
Have the Room Above Her (ECM), but that doesn't mean it can't approach similar
rarified atmospheres. Potter may be a firebrand when working with bassist Dave
Holland, heard recently on the incendiary The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007
Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009), but here he proves
himself as much a master of restraint as Motian, who contributes all but one
track to this collection. Potter plays, in fact, with unusual economy and a
softer-than-usual timbre, holding off until over 20 minutes into this hour-long
set, and the aptly titled "Blue Midnight," before turning up the heat and
leaning more towards his typically robust tone and expressionist approach.

The entire set works on an upward trajectory, progressing into increasingly
liberated and powerful landscapes. The trio draws on material dating as far back
as Voyage, including the free-wheeling "Drum Music" and equally open-ended
"Abacus," a solo feature for Motian, whose textural breadth and dynamism
continue to evolve, even as he approaches octogenarian status. Motian's newer
material leans largely towards the subdued and lyrical, including the closing
"Cathedral," where Moran plays with a gentility slightly skewed by his
characteristically idiosyncratic tendencies.

Moran's career continues to be a curious one. Since emerging in the late-1990s,
his best work has been under the leadership of others, most notably saxophonist
Charles Lloyd's Rabo de Nube (ECM, 2008) and reedman Don Byron's Ivey-Divey
(Blue Note, 2005). Lost In a Dream demonstrates his specific aptitude as a band
member rather than band leader once again, as the pianist provides a shifting
harmonic context for this bass-less trio, working beautifully with Motian's
in-the-moment layering of percussive colors.

"Casino," the disc's longest track, demonstrates the trio's ability to mine the
nuances of Motian's sketch-like writing, while the knotty, rubato "Ten" provides
both Moran and Potter the chance to explore greater strength and tensility. Lost
In A Dream may be the first salvo from this empathic new trio, but hopefully it
won't be the last.


Style: Free Improvisation/Avant-Garde