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Home , At the Village Vanguard, Ben Monder, Chris Cheek, Conception Vessel, Geri Allen, Greg Osby

www.winterandwinter.com

P a u l M o t i a n 25 March 1931 – 22 November 2011

In many interviews, this New York drum- and recordings with , Charles mer of Turkish-Armenian extraction has Lloyd and ’s »Liberation been asked time after time for anecdotes Music Ensemble« follow, but over the about , and Keith Jar- years, almost unnoticed, Motian develops rett. His early days attract attention be- his first trio, with on guitar and cause he was one of the few musicians who on . In the mid- can look back on eighties, Motian experiences with begins to collab- , orate with Ste- and fan Winter ’s Coleman Haw- newly founded kins, who even music company appeared with JMT Production. Billie Holiday In contrast to and Thelonious the productions Monk in his up to this point, youth, and the first concept played with albums now ap- Arlo Guthrie at pear. The first is the legendary »Monk in Mo- Woodstock Fest- tian«, played by ival. The list of his trio, with great stars Mo- guest musicians tian has played on with goes on for Ꭿ Robert Lewis piano and pages; for some years he has been reading through his on . Next comes »Bill painstakingly documented annual calen- Evans«, recorded without pianist by the dars, to stir his memory and write his au- Trio and guest bass player tobiography. . Winter & Winter, founded at It is not until 1972, at the age of 41, that the end of 1995, takes over and publishes Paul Motian records his debut album under all JMT’s productions, as well as continu- his own name (»«, with ing work already begun. In the nineties Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Leroy Jen- Motian presents his new group »The Elec- kins, and Becky Friend). Man- tric Band«, and interprets com- fred Eicher from ECM gives the »sideman« positions by »Monk and Powell«. Paul the chance to realise his own musical con- Motian’s important third group »Tethered cepts. Perhaps this late start in being able Moon«, with on piano to shape and fashion recordings under his and on bass, dedicates itself own direction leads to Motian continuing to »Kurt Weill«, and plays »Chansons to be seen mainly as an important accom- d'Édith Piaf« and »Experiencing Tosca«. panying musician. Further Motian pro- Albums with his compositions and live ductions and near-countless concert tours productions from Toyko, recorded on his 60th birthday, and live at the Village Van- them together with close colleagues such guard, complete this picture of Paul Motian. Gary Peacock, Charlie Haden, Masabumi Amidst all this work, there’s a special se- Kikuchi, or Dewey Redman, ries: »Paul Motian On Broadway«. Vol. 1 and finding repertoire that seems as if it got recorded in 1989, Vol. 2 in 1990, and was specially composed for this ensemble. Vol. 3 in 1992. In 2006, for his 75th birth- His own compositions or 'texts' by Kurt day, Motian goes back to Broadway and Weill, Harold Arlen, Giacomo Puccini or presents »Paul Motian On Broadway Vol. 4 are the themes for his or the paradox of continuity« with his variations. Every single recording bears the group Trio 2000 + One, with Chris Potter personal unmistakeable handwriting of on saxophone, on bass, the Paul Motian, however diverse the reper- singer , and pianist Masa- toire and instrumentation. Sometimes Paul bumi Kikuchi. In 2009 Paul Motian recorded Motian’s arrangements and instructions »Paul Motian On Broadway Vol. 5« with consist merely of the request to forget the on bass and saxophon structure of a song and become immersed player plus Michaël Attias, sax and Masabumi Kikuchi, piano. In the years 2007, 2008 and 2010 Win- ter & Winter released »Live « Volume I, II and III with Chris Potter and Larry Grenadier plus and Masabumi Kikuchi. In September 2010 Stefan Winter produced his 21st leader album with Paul Motion under the title »Windmills Of Your Mind« with guitarist Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan on bass and vocalist . This album was made to celebrate Paul Motian’s 80th birth- day in 2011. The title song is one of the most beautiful memories of Paul Motian. This album got released in late spring 2011, and on the 22nd of November 2011 Paul Motian passed away. The great art of variation and improvisa- tion is the great art of Paul Motian: he un- ravels themes, rhythms and harmonies, reducing, denaturing, and creating new things that come so close to innermost ori- Ꭿ Robert Lewis gins that unsuspected aspects of these hits are revealed. Yet Motian is no stage dir- in its lyrics. His artistry in playing drums, ector, moving the players around to create snares and cymbals springs from an inner his music: he doesn’t conduct, but sets up conviction that he should devote his entire an environment in which the individual being to serving and fulfilling music. Each gifts of his musicians can develop unhin- note has its destiny and meaning; he leads dered. With a sure knack, he chooses as yet events with an invisible hand, listening unknown musicians, just as Bill Frisell, Joe and sometimes giving impulses without Lovano, Brad Schoeppach, Kurt Rosenwin- even touching a cymbal or drum. kel or Chris Potter once were, bringing W I N T E R & W I N T E R PAUL MOTIAN »THE WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND«

Winter&Winter 910 182-2 (released in 2011)

Paul Motian: drums Bill Frisell: guitar Petra Haden: vocals Thomas Morgan: bass

"This album is further proof of the heights that music can reach when all concerns of style and prowess are discarded. Motian is brave and instinctive enough to dispense with technical peripheries and just play what the music demands, moment by moment." T H E S Y D N E Y M O R N I N G H E R A L D

P A U L M O T I A N O N B R O A D W A Y, V O L U M E 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5

»PAUL MOTIAN ON BROADWAY, VOL. 1«

Winter&Winter 910 179-2 (originally released on JMT in 1989)

Paul Motian: drums Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Bill Frisell: electric guitar Charlie Haden: bass

"How is it that certain artists can transform the familiar into something unfamiliar, and with such delightful results?" D O W N B E AT

"… air-brushing melodies and improvising delicately chiming harmonies." N E W S W E E K »PAUL MOTIAN ON BROADWAY, VOL. 2«

Winter&Winter 910 180-2 (originally released on JMT in 1990)

Paul Motian: drums Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Bill Frisell: electric guitar Charlie Haden: bass

"The band, needless to say, fits together so well you can't hear the joins …" J A Z Z W I S E

»PAUL MOTIAN ON BROADWAY, VOL. 3«

JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 055-2 (released in 1992)

Paul Motian: drums Lee Konitz: soprano and alto Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Bill Frisell: guitar Charlie Haden: bass

"Without nostalgic romanticisation Paul Motian’s Broadway is simply amazing, timeless improvised music that unites tradition and modernism." TA G E S S P I E G E L

"Within jazz tradition of turning pop-tart tunes into small works of beauty, this series by drummer Motian is a quiet masterwork. Guitar, bass and drums team up to cast show-tunes into a shimmering mirage, against which two superb horn players sketch jagged lines." W E L C O M AT »PAUL MOTIAN ON BROADWAY, VOL. 4 OR THE PARADOX OF CONTINUITY«

Winter&Winter 910 125-2 (released in 2006)

Trio 2000 + One Paul Motian: drums · Chris Potter: saxophone · Larry Grenadier: bass + Rebecca Martin: vocals · Masabumi Kikuchi: piano

Académie Charles Cros, Prix in Honorem 2006

"The piano quartets are small, chamber masterpieces…" D O W N B E AT

"[Motian] may well be the nearest thing jazz has to Picasso." T H E S Y D N E Y M O R N I N G H E R A L D

»PAUL MOTIAN ON BROADWAY, VOL. 5«

Winter&Winter 910 148-2 (released in 2009)

Trio 2000 + Two Paul Motian: drums · Thomas Morgan: bass · Loren Stillman: saxophone + Michaël Attias: saxophone · Masabumi Kikuchi: piano

"The recording's curtain call, Frank Loesser's ‘Sue Me’ […] is simply divine as it delicately balances dissonance and harmony. Mirroring the entire set, it is a testament to the source material and Motian's own stylistic touches in keeping the music relevant and contemporary. At nearly 80 years of age, his vitality and art continue to inspire." A L L A B O U T J A Z Z . C O M P A U L M O T I A N L I V E A T T H E V I L L A G E V A N G U A R D

»PAUL MOTIAN TRIO AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD« — YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY HEART —

JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 080-2 (released in 1995)

Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Bill Frisell: guitar Paul Motian: drums

"Paul Motian’s longstanding trio is considered one of the greatest jazz bands of today, if not all time. […] This trio has the ability to move an audience with its emotive expression, and play with a synergy unmatched by any other working band." A L L A B O U T J A Z Z . C O M

»PAUL MOTIAN TRIO AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD« — —

Winter&Winter 910 008-2 (released in 1997)

Bill Frisell: electric guitar Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Paul Motian: drums

"… a nuanced, conversational dynamic has always informed Motian's trio, and on this […] CD […] there are several crystalline examples of it." J A Z Z I Z »PAUL MOTIAN »PAUL MOTIAN »PAUL MOTIAN LIVE AT THE VILLAGE LIVE AT THE VILLAGE LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD, VOL. I« VANGUARD, VOL. II« VANGUARD, VOL. III«

Winter&Winter 910 133-2 Winter&Winter 910 143-2 Winter&Winter 910 172-2 (released in 2007) (released in 2008) (released in 2010)

Trio 2000 + Two Trio 2000 + Two Trio 2000 + Two Paul Motian: drums Paul Motian: drums Paul Motian: drums Chris Potter: tenor sax Chris Potter: tenor sax Chris Potter: tenor sax Larry Grenadier: bass Larry Grenadier: bass Larry Grenadier: bass + + + Greg Osby: alto sax Greg Osby: alto sax : viola Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Mat Maneri: viola Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Masabumi Kikuchi: piano

"This recording is another "This is indoor music: "It is the programming of significant example of music for contemplating, the album that makes it Motian's unqiue art sitting and smoking, extremely rewarding […] and ongoing letting it smolder in Motian allows the band to contribution to jazz." the ears and grow." build the energy organically." A L L A B O U T J A Z Z . C O M A L L A B O U T J A Z Z . C O M A L L A B O U T J A Z Z . C O M

Ꭿ Robert Lewis H O M A G E S T O T H E L O N I O U S M O N K , B I L L E V A N S , K U R T W E I L L , B U D P O W E L L , É D I T H P I A F A N D G I A C O M O P U C C I N I

»MONK IN MOTIAN« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 020-2 (released in 1988)

Paul Motian: drums Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone · Bill Frisell: electric guitar Dewey Redman: tenor saxophone Geri Allen: piano

"For edge-of-the-seat excitement the only passage to top is Frisell’s duet with Motian in the middle of ‚Trinkle Tinkle’. This is superb semi-free playing: fast, frantic, and just about under control. It leaves you wishing that it had happened more often – that there wer more instances where the Monk tunes were used simply as a short cut to this kind of heat and originality." W I R E M A G A Z I N E

"… few bands have captured the music’s wit, intelligence and deep-seated eccen- tricity so well.“ T H E N E W Y O R K T I M E S

PAUL MOTIAN »BILL EVANS« Winter&Winter 910 166-2 (originally released on JMT 1990)

Paul Motian: drums Bill Frisell: guitar Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone Marc Johnson: bass "It is the way they find a similar kind of freedom within form that is this album's delight and why it can be returned to time and again to hear again with fresh ears." J A Z Z W I S E

"M o t i a n i s a s u p re m e l y n u a n c e d d r u m m e r w h o s e p l a y i n g s e e m s t o b u r s t w i t h pianistic color." T H E P R O V I D E N C E S U N D AY J O U R N A L

»TETHERED MOON: MASABUMI KIKUCHI, GARY PEACOCK, PAUL MOTIAN PLAY KURT WEILL« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 076-2 (released in 1995)

Tethered Moon Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Gary Peacock: acoustic bass Paul Motian: drums

"Tethered Moon suggest a lunar reflection captured in a dark pool, an elusive, haunting image borne out by the music of the trio […] Weill’s music approached with unfettered imagination, spacious, flexible and intense. The moods shift like sunlight and clouds on a landscape." T H E I R I S H T I M E S »PAUL MOTIAN AND THE ELECTRIC BEBOP BAND PLAY MONK & POWELL« Winter&Winter 910 045-2 (released in 1999)

Kurt Rosenwinkel, Steve Cardenas: electric guitars Chris Potter, : tenor saxophones : electric bass, Paul Motian: drums

"Mot i an ' s d r u m mi n g ba l an c e s th e a r t o f sub t le t y w it h creative flair, as his shifting textures blend into the instrumental interplay while moving with an eclecticism worthy of the material's mercurial composers." BILLBOARD

TETHERED MOON MASABUMI KIKUCHI (right) GARY PEACOCK (middle) PAUL MOTIAN (left)

Ꭿ Robert Lewis

TETHERED MOON »CHANSONS D’ÉDITH PIAF« Winter&Winter 910 048-2 (released in 1999)

Tethered Moon: Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Gary Peacock: bass · Paul Motian: drums

"Thethered Moon […] remain an exciting modernist combustion." T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E

TETHERED MOON »EXPERIENCING TOSCA« Winter&Winter 910 093-2 (released in 2004)

Tethered Moon Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Gary Peacock: bass Paul Motian: drums

"W i t h s o m u c h s i l e n c e o r a b r u p t n e s s f r o m t h e p i a n o [Peacock and Motian] create a continuity with combinations of pure texture and ingeniously subtle rhythm, making the music crest and subside in ." T H E N E W Y O R K T I M E S »PAUL MOTIAN PAUL MOTIAN AND TETHERED MOON IN TOKYO« THE ELECTRIC BEBOP »FIRST MEETING« BAND »FLIGHT OF THE BLUE JAY«

JMT Edition Winter&Winter Winter&Winter 910 009-2 Winter&Winter 910 016-2 919 052-2 (released in 1991) (released in 1997) (released in 1997)

Paul Motian: drums , Brad Tethered Moon Bill Frisell: guitar Schoeppach: e-guitars Masabumi Kikuchi: piano Joe Lovano: tenor sax Chris Potter, Chris Cheek: Gary Peacock: bass tenor saxophone Paul Motian: drums "With his fluid sense of Steve Swallow: e-bass time and cat-eared atten- Paul Motian: drums "Peacock and Motian can tion to dynamics, Paul well be called geniuses al- Motian has been, since the "This live CD is atmospher- ready. What they show here late Fifties, one of the most ic, energetic and offers an in the trio can be counted individual drummers in excellent trio." among the best what three jazz. Paul Motian in Tokyo J A Z Z & M O R E musicians can present." prove again that with A U G U S TO precision, wit and a ballsy "[Paul Motian] is at the sonic feel, extreme heart of matters in every subtlety and lyricism can sense." J A Z Z W I S E sidestep the New Age." J A Z Z N O T E S

"T h i s t r i o h a s b e e n i n ac- tion for ten years, and it features in drummer Paul Motian, guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano three of the most unusual improvisers draw- ing on jazz and rock mate- rials but charging them with unique contemporary life." THE GUARDIAN

"Like a dream by Monet, this is all color." MUSICIAN Ꭿ John Rogers »PAUL MOTIAN PAUL MOTIAN AND PAUL MOTIAN AND TRIO 2000 + ONE« THE E.B.B.B. THE E.B.B.B. »EUROPE« »HOLIDAY FOR STRINGS«

Winter&Winter 910 032-2 Winter&Winter 910 063-2 Winter&Winter 910 069-2 (released in 1998) (released in 2000) (released in 2002)

Paul Motian: drums Paul Motian: drums Paul Motian: drums Chris Potter: tenor sax Anders Christensen: e-bass Anders Christensen: e-bass Steve Swallow: electric bass Chris Cheek, : Chris Cheek, Pietro Tonolo: Larry Grenadier: saxophones saxophones acoustic bass , Steve Cardenas: Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas: Masabumi Kikuchi: piano electric guitars electric guitars

"Inspiring contemporary "Motian is among the great, "A gourmet CD, even for jazz without expiry date." individual voices on his spoiled ears." J A Z Z T H E T I K chosen instrument, with an F O N O F O R U M advanced polyrhythmic "Paul Motian gives jazz concept that inspires and "It's a dreamscape, and it's […] a unique coherent ex- supports …" diabolical in the way it pression." J A Z Z N O W. C O M gets under your skin even R O N D O when you try to dodge its "Europe is an enjoyable, impact." "How Motian propels a twisty mixture of past, D O W N B E AT band while simultaneously present and future, with mining such a minimal enough sonic wrinkles approach is part of his to keep it fresh." genius …" J A Z Z M ATA Z Z . C O M T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E

Ꭿ Robert Lewis FURTHER RELEASES ON WINTER&WINTER JMT EDITION WHICH ARE SOLD OUT

ALLEN, HADEN, MOTIAN »IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 027-2 (released in 1989) Geri Allen: piano · Charlie Haden: bass · Paul Motian: drums Guest: Juan Lazaro Mendolas: quena (bamboo flute)

"This may well be the best, most equally balanced, and lyrically satisfying trio currently before the public." — D O W N B E AT

"In The Year Of The Dragon is music for the ages." — R O L L I N G S TO N E

»PAUL MOTIAN & THE ELECTRIC BEBOP BAND« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 061-2 (released in 1993) Paul Motian: drums · : tenor saxophone Brad Schoeppach: electric guitar · Kurt Rosenwinkel: electric guitar : electric bass

"[Motian’s] … loose, flowing sense of time and exceptionally melodic conception provide the greatest thrills." D AY TO N D A I LY N E W S

"This album is like the first spring day in March: fresh, clear and putting the spirits to life." R O N D O

"What [Motian] has to say is always intriguing, new and unheard. […] Bebop fans will be enthused. And all others – after listening to this recording – must become Bebop fans." B O D Y & S O U L

PAUL MOTIAN TRIO »TRIOISM« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 067-2 (released in 1994) Paul Motian: drums · Bill Frisell: guitar · Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone plus Dewey Redman: tenor saxophone

"… Trioism reminds the listener of the restraint, sensitivity and brilliant interplay that gives this formation the stamp of originality." JAZZ NOTES

PAUL MOTIAN AND THE ELECTRIC BEBOP BAND »REINCARNATION OF A LOVE BIRD« JMT Edition Winter&Winter 919 071-2 (released in 1994) Paul Motian: drums · : percussion · Steve Swallow: bass Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar · : guitar Chris Potter: alto and tenor saxophones · Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone

"With such an accomplished revisit of the tradition and two own electrifying pieces, Paul Motian is more inventive than many of the so-called avant-gardists." AUDIO