thanks, Paul
Earlier this morning, November 22, 2011, the drummer Paul Motian passed away at 80.The painter Piet Mondrian managed to describe how i experienced Paul’s music in the same way as he justified his paintings
I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true.
Paul Motian made true music. Not in any abstract sense of the word, either; the music was honest and told the truth, but was also true in and of itself, on its own terms, and for its own sake.Mr Motian’s music gave me the greatest gift art can give a person—it changed the way i looked at the world, and how i related to my part of it. The recording that most improved my life, is a record called either ‘You took the words right out of my heart' or 'Live at the Village Vanguard’ with Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, and Loe Lovano. The most i can think to say without being strident or saccharine is that this album will more than repay any time you spend with it. Like Mondrian, Motian’s evolution from his early recordings to his last, is a beautiful record of a human assiduously refining his art, and his craft, documentation we are all lucky to have even second-hand access to.i count myself very lucky to have seen him play in several groups, including the aforementioned trio. aside from the occasional person trying to snap along, Motian held a terrifically overcrowded new york club full of people coming off of work transfixed on music the likes of which some of them did not know existed or could exist. and for him, this was routine. he is (not was, for his records are still ours to explore) a beautiful and genuinely singular voice in art, in music, in jazz, and in drumming. we are the richer for him, and i stand in solidarity with the artistic community in offering condolences and very deep thanks.