CD ECM Records Paul Motian Band: Garden Of Eden

2006

Paul Motian - tobe
Chris Cheek - saxofon
Tony Malaby - saxofon tenor
Steve Cardenas - chitara
Ben Monder - chitara
Jakob Bro - chitara
Jerome Harris - bas

Jazzman - Choc du mois; Rondo - Jazz-CD des Monats; Musica Jazz - Disco del Mese

Listening to Paul Motian’s music can bring to mind architect Mies van der Rohe’s celebrated adage that his work aimed for an effect of „almost nothing“. In the case of both Mies and Motian, their magisterial art might belie their intent, but fashioning much from less has continued to be as essential a modus operandi for the New York jazz drummer as it was for the German visionary. … Motian’s genius lies in maintaining an understated, lingering tension, thus dissolving any vestiges of New Age moistness. By keeping the bass and guitar parts harmonically indirect, and by positioning substantive, if concise, improvisations from saxophonists Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek, Motian – his now-murmuring, now-biting, always unpredictable drumming commenting on it all from beneath – ensures edginess. … The Drummer’s own tunes are deliberately simple in content and form, the better to cast attention onto the subtly morphing group landscape. For the most part, individual performances remain subordinate to the collective character of the septet. Standing against Motian’s effectively communal concept, the ego-informed bravura of much contemporary jazz comes up glaringly empty.
Steve Futterman, Washington Post