Paul Motian

Paul Motian passed away this morning. One of the great drummers in jazz, he was to me one of the world's deepest improvisors and one of the most individual musicians I have ever heard on any instrument. I think back to an evening in the mid '80s when I had the good fortune to play a bit with him. I had just come from an afternoon jam session with some friends. We were playing standards. And it was feeling a bit routine. At a certain point during the session I felt the need to break out of the musical web we were spinning and almost as a joke, I decided to take an entire solo that was completely free rhythmically while still making the changes in time. As it happened my little joke actually seemed to invigorate the music. I might have simply treated the experience as a curiosity had I not decided to head over to the 55 bar on Christopher street in the Village. Guitarist Leni Stern was playing her regular Sunday gig and she would always let me sit in. That evening she had hired Paul Motian to play drums with her. I was surprised and excited at the prospect of playing with him for the first time. With the effect of the afternoon session fresh in my mind I approached the music in just the same way. The effect of this looser playing had been interesting and unexpected during the afternoon session but now with Paul it was much deeper and richer. When I think back on it over the years I realize that at that moment in time Paul was probably the most perfect musician on the planet that I could have played with to validate and solidify this approach. His phrasing was so fluid and yet his internal pulse and feel so strong that I was able to play anything I heard and have it fit the music just the way I wanted it to. I can say with no exaggeration that this was a true musical epiphany. It was as if a door had opened. I walked through and never looked back. Everything I've done since then has come out of that one seemingly casual but quite intense (and amazingly fortuitous) experience.

Paul and I spoke about playing again but that never quite came about. I would go to hear him play and come away completely inspired each time. Some of the early music I wrote for my band came directly after hearing a set he did at the Village Vanguard in the mid '90s. We would cross paths on the road from time to time. In more recent years I began writing him letters, sending him music. Last time I saw him was at the Vanguard almost a year ago. He sounded amazing as usual. And he looked as if he had another twenty or thirty years in him. During the break I had a few moments to speak with him privately and I reminded him of that night some twenty odd years ago and told him how much he and his music meant to me. I'm so glad I had the chance to do that in person.

The world feels different without Paul Motian in it…

General Update...

Collaborations...

Holland...
Earlier in the blog I wrote about my trip to Belgium last December in which I collaborated with the radioKUKAorkest in a three week tour and recording session. I was especially happy to have been afforded the opportunity to be in one place for the duration of the project as opposed to the extended one-nighter type of tours that are the norm. Since then I’ve been fortunate to have taken part in a couple of other similarly structured projects.

This past October I was invited along with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier to spend a couple of weeks in Holland to collaborate with an existing group led by guitarist Guillermo Celano and drummer Marco Baggiani (both from Argentina). American saxophonist and clarinetist Michael Moore was also part of this project. I’ve known Michael for many years but this was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to play music with him which was a very rewarding experience, as anticipated. His sound and musical sensitivity really elevated the whole band. Bassist Sven Schuster filled out the group. Sylvie and I presented our duo music as the larger ensemble broke into smaller combinations to balance out the full ensemble works. This turned out to be a nice way to present a varied program to our audiences.

As in Belgium I was provided with an apartment and a bicycle. Living in midtown Manhattan I am rather used to the shear amount of activity on the streets. But nothing can quite prepare one for navigating the streets of Amsterdam on a bicycle. The streets are narrow, canals are never more than a few feet away, trams, buses, cars, pedestrians and hundreds of other bikes are all criss-crossing each other in a dense kaleidoscopic morass of movement. But somehow it works. So it was my plan to bike to the recording session on the final day. I had my route all planned out in advance and was confident that all would go smoothly. What I did not know was that the annual Amsterdam Marathon was to take place that day along the very street that was to get me to the session. Not only was the street blocked but it was packed on both sides with spectators. I was able to traverse some of the distance on the sidewalk but before long was forced to detour into areas that were not on my map. And did I mention how easy it is to loose one’s sense of direction in Amsterdam? After traveling by sheer intuition I realized that I was going to need to get on the other side of the street that the marathon was running on. Most of the street was fenced off on both sides and I couldn’t tell how many more miles it would be till the end. After some time I found a block in which there was no fence and it was possible to cross. But the runners were still coming and I certainly did not want to interrupt the flow (or worse). Having little choice I waited until just the right moment, quickly entered and crossed the street on my bike, horn strapped on my back, hoping that I would not be arrested. In hindsight it was probably OK but it sure felt weird. While on the other side I still could not be sure where I was in relation to the studio. After trying unsuccessfully to find any connection to the map I finally asked someone where I was. Turned out I was only a minute away from where I needed to be. After all that I still arrived on time!

Also of interest were the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. After seeing many of the works in books and reproductions over the years it was astonishing to see these paintings for real. In the Van Gogh Museum there was a floor devoted to Japanese works that were an influence on Van Gogh and many of his contemporaries. This added an additional layer of appreciation.

Oh, and as with my Belgian blog entry, I should mention my favorite daily espresso shop in Amsterdam. It’s called Brandmeesters.

Switzerland...
Earlier this year Bassist Christian Weber and drummer Michael Griener invited me to join them in presenting some improvised concerts in several towns in Switzerland. Out of that came an invitation from the Willisau Festival to perform there in August. The Willisau Festival has quite a history in presenting contemporary jazz and improvised music (since 1975) and it’s always a great pleasure to play there. Here’s a video excerpt from that performance.




Teaching...
I graduated from Towson University in Baltimore in ’81. At that time there was no real jazz program there. But there was a jazz ensemble, directed by Hank Levy (writer for the Stan Kenton and Don Ellis orchestras) which was a major draw for many of the students. In fact, the band only played Hank’s music rather than the broader big band repertoire that university programs typically draw from. This might appear to be a drawback but in actuality it served to give the band a strong sense of musical identity, something that I found to be quite important. Hank passed in 2001 but not before strides were made towards the development of a jazz degree program. More recently trumpeter Dave Ballou has joined the faculty at Towson and has been making great progress in further developing the program for jazz and improvised music. Additionally there has been a residency program for visiting performers to come and teach for a week at the university, sponsored by Bill and Helen Murray. I was invited to take part in the residency this past week. It is especially rewarding to see how Dave has expanded the scope of the program and the effect this has on the students and their music making. During the week I did master classes, spoke to the composition and arranging classes, gave many private lessons and worked with different ensembles. Specifically I rehearsed with a group of students on some of my own music which we presented in a concert on the final evening. Additionally there was an evening concert of my own in which I invited pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and bassist Mike Formanek to play in a completely improvised setting. We recorded the concert as well as some additional improvisations in the hall afterwards in what I hope will be a future CD release.

I should point out that before I enrolled at Towson as a student I had attended a number of annual weeklong summer jazz band residencies by the Stan Kenton Orchestra that took place there. The first one I attended was in 1974. Kinda sobering to do the math on that. Couldn’t help but think about being a very green fourteen year old kid roaming those very same hallways long ago. Added another dimension to the whole thing.

Listening...
Just came back from a wonderful solo clarinet concert given by Carol McGonnell as part of the Argento New Music Project series at the Austrian Cultural Forum here in NYC. It’s a great series (see my earlier "Update" post below) and has been a peak listening experience every time. Carol McGonnell is a superb musician whose emotional commitment, focus and attention to detail are inspiring. The compositions (by George Aperghis, Brad Balliett, Salvatore Sciarrino and Allain Gaussin) while being fully notated works all got me to thinking about how to find more ways in which to bring organization and precision to improvisation.


Upcoming...

January 2012 “Trio New York” (Ellery Eskelin, Gary Versace, Gerald Cleaver) European tour.

March 2012 “Different But the Same” (David Liebman, Ellery Eskelin, Tony Marino, Jim Black) European tour.

More info to come...keep an eye on the website.