Archive for the ‘Paul Motian’ Category
Enrico Pieranunzi: Fellini Jazz (2003 – Camjazz)
The elegance that is Fellini Jazz serves as a tribute to both the great director and this assembly of musicians.
Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi continues to make make dream recordings that are so much more than all-star get togethers. This release follows two stellar sessions, Plays Morricone and Current Conditions (both on CAM Jazz), with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron.
Think of Fellini and the name that follows is Nino Rota, who composed music for the director’s films and also Coppola’s Godfather series. Rota draws inspiration from all music to form his unique brand of folk music. This band measures out the composer’s vision in satisfying portions.
Besides the pianist, the attention-grabbing performances come from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and saxophonist Chris Potter. Potter a mainstay in Dave Holland’s band, has full command of his horn at the tender age of 31. He tends toward a gentle but large voice, for example covering the ballad “Il Bidone” like fresh syrup over warm pancakes. The two versions of that particular track are done in the form of a ballad and a post-bop workout. Wheeler’s flugelhorn complements Potter with remarkable telepathy. His muted trumpet fills the tango of “La Città Delle Donne” as well as the railroad-patterned version of “La Dolce Vita.”
Pieranunzi finds it almost second nature to be partnered with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Charlie Haden. Motian, who played with Bill Evans, keeps that open, loose rhythm swirling behind Pieranunzi’s Evans-like clean vision. Haden and the pianist close the record with a sentimental duo of a Pieranunzi bitter/sweet original that could be the end piece to a “love found/love lost” movie.
The band keeps the music in the forefront here. They play the circus theme version of “La Dolce Vita” with a straight-face, Pieranunzi ringing in the track by comping around Potter’s soprano flight. The favorite always is the composition “Amarcord.” Played as a blues, it reveals Fellini’s bittersweet cinematic themes.
This is a sensational recording, worthy of its subject matter and its superb cast.
Mark Corroto (All About Jazz)
Enrico Pieranunzi (piano)
Kenny Wheeler (trumpet)
Chris Potter (saxes)
Paul Motian (drums)
Track List:
2. Il Bidone,
3. Il Bidone;
4. La Città Delle Donne;
5. Amarcord;
6. Cabiria’s Dream;
7. La Dolce Vita;
8. La Dolce Vita;
9. La Strada;
10. Le Notti Di Cabiria;
11. Fellini’s Waltz.
Original Release Date: November 25, 2003 – Label: Camjazz
Bill Evans Trio: Waltz for Debby (1962, Ojc)
And while Evans’ elegant, understated approach to the piano is front and center and unmistakably the glue that holds the music together (much in the same way that he made his mark with his contributions on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue), LaFaro’s bass lines are just as much of a treat for the ears to focus on. His note choices tended towards the higher end of the scale, and he frequently played outside the usual timekeeper role, acting as much a soloist as Evans and leaving more of the rhythmic duties to Motian. He more than carries his weight, and LaFaro’s extended solo section on the Davis tune “Milestones” caps the set off with a fabulous display of teamwork that plays like a rush of adrenaline after the pretty niceties of “My Foolish Heart” and Evans’ classic title track.
Original Release Date: June 25, 1961 – Label: Ojc
Joe Lovano – I’m All For You – (2004 – Blue Note Records)
No instrument is more synonymous with jazz than the tenor saxophone, due equally to the expressive capabilities of the horn and the legacy of great players who have been attracted to it. On the evidence of Down Beat readers’ and critics’ polls over the past decade, Joe Lovano would appear to be the favorite among contenders for the top spot among present-day tenor titans. Is he one of the giants? Perhaps, though one might be hard-pressed to make the case on the basis of this single session from 2004.
In the liner notes, Ira Gitler invokes Dexter Gordon as an authority on the subject of strong individual tenor voices. The comparison seems less than apt, especially if Gitler is suggesting that Lovano is made of the same cloth. Gordon made each and every note a definitive choice during the course of constructing musical sermons delivered with such strong conviction that the extemporaneous circumstances of their creation is all the more to marvel at. His extended “Body and Soul” (from The Panther) rivals Coleman Hawkins in emotional rhetoric and exceeds him in some of its inspired note choices based on alternate harmonies—tones that Dexter treats like daggers, carefully selecting each one, then sharpening and honing each before aiming it right at the listener’s heart.
By contrast, Lovano’s “Body and Soul” (retitled “I’m All for You”) finds the player moving notes around on a chess board, experimenting with directions and possibilities, blurring some notes and abandoning others before making the move that counts, often to undeniable lyrical-poetic effect. He’s definitely closer to Lester Young than to any other tenor player associated with this tune—from Byas to Stitt to Lockjaw Davis to Coltrane. But his phrasing is more tentative and choppy, his sound is less open-throated, more squeezed and clipped than that of Lester or, for that matter, Stan Getz. In fact, if I didn’t know who the player was, I would guess Lee Konitz had momentarily exchanged his alto for a tenor (listen to any of Konitz’s recordings of the tune).
This album may be the best introduction to Joe Lovano’s inimitable sound and approach (as a Sinatra-phile, I found his tribute to Old Blue quite tepid). At this late, post-Bird, post-Trane time in American improvisatory music, sheer competence isn’t enough, and genuine innovation can be illusory. Possessing an individual voice is, in itself, no small achievement.
And it doesn’t hurt that the comparatively youthful, fifty-ish Lovano is supported by three of the current scene’s reigning patriarchs in George Mraz, Paul Motian and Hank Jones (for the math-inclined, a sexagenerian, a septagenerian, and an octogenarian). They lend not only sympathetic musical support, but also an incalculable sense of confirmation to this latest addition to a formidable musical heritage.
Across Rhythm 