Review: Lost in a Dream

Paul Motian

Lost in a Dream

I'm gonna stay with the youngsters. When these get too old, I'm gonna get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active. -Art Blakey, A Night At Birdland, Vol. 2

I was thinking of Art Blakey's words when I picked up the new Paul Motian album. Having been long celebrated for his trio with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell (among many other projects), Motian now finds himself also touring with another pair of youngsters in saxophonist Chris Potter and pianast Jason Moran. As with his work with the former, Motian's trio with the latter reiterates his status as the foremost musical heir to former employer Bill Evans. Evans freed up the piano trio with Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro, giving immense freedom to each member of the trio. Motian has taken Evans' impulse a few steps further, giving each member of his trio complete freedom.

I am rarely as predisposed to like an album as I am with Lost in a Dream, but I cannot say that Motian, Moran, and Potter did not follow through on their potential. At their best moments, like nearly five minutes into Casino, when Potter builds up to a Coltranesque wail over Moran's plaintive chords and Motian's dirge-like pulse, they are truly sublime. The three have enough personality and fertile minds between them to make such free music and a loose organizational structure work. Moran has been one of the most rewarding pianists to listen to over the past decade, while Potter's consistency is rare among today's musicians (I cannot think of a single project of his that I have not liked). Motian is in good company, which pays dividends throughout the album.

As much as I am sure to keep enjoying this album, I cannot escape the wish that Motian had employed a more groove-like feel every once in awhile. He comes closest on the title track, but it is much too subtle to feel like a departure from the rest of the album. However, this is but a minor inconvenience in an album that seems destined to age well.


Track Listing: Mode VI; Casino; Lost In A Dream; Blue Midnight; Be Careful It's My Heart; Birdsong; Ten; Drum Music; Abacus; Cathedral Song
Personnel: Paul Motian, drums; Chris Potter, saxophone; Jason Moran, piano

Review: Overtone Quartet at The Kennedy Center

Dave Holland announced to the crowd at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater Saturday night that the Overtone Quartet is a collective operation. Each member contributes tunes for performance, and all four are given time in the spotlight. When a group consists of such powerful, diverse, and unselfish personalities as Holland, drummer Eric Harland, pianist Jason Moran, and saxophonist Chris Potter, this organizational model often pays dividends. I have mentioned before that Holland is very much a bandleader in the mode of Art Blakey: attracting talented young sidemen and creating an environment in which they can thrive.

And thrive they did on Saturday. The quartet opened with a Harland tune, Treachery. Harland set the tone for the evening with a driving rhythmic pulse, coupled with crisp accents that managed to pack a lot of notes into a little space without sounding clutter. He and Holland were locked in throughout most of the night; it was not uncommon for the two to smile to each other as they settled into a groove.

Indeed, the only disappointment of the evening was that we did not hear much from Moran, one of the most original voices on the piano at the moment. The quartet played one of Moran's tunes, Blue Blocks, and Moran only got two opportunities to stretch out by himself. However, complaining about this is a bit like complaining that you don't drive your Mercedes enough because you spend all your time in your BMW.

The group closed with Interception, from Holland's 1973 album Conference Of The Birds, one of the best jazz albums of that decade. The group tore through the tune's disjointed melody and followed with a frenetic free solo from Potter, with all three bandmates adding wind to his sails. Harland followed with a fantastic excursion of his own, befitting of the Superman t-shirt he wore under his jacket. It was a fitting end to the evening: four dynamic musicians forging their disparate identities into a beautiful cacophony.


Bonus Overtone: Nate Chinen reviews the quartet's September performance at the Blue Note in New York.

Bonus Material

Some Dave Holland videos from the YouTube universe:

The Dave Holland Quintet plays Metamorphos at the 2002 Newport Jazz Festival. With Holland are Chris Potter on alto, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Steve Nelson on mallets, and Billy Kilson on drums.

Here Holland plays "Cantaloupe Island" with Pat Metheny and Roy Haynes in 1992.

Here is Holland's quintet in 1986, with Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Steve Coleman on saxophone, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums.

And finally, a snippet of Holland with Miles Davis in 1971. Also on the date were Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and Gary Bartz