Paul Motian I Have The Room Above Her CD

Personnel: Paul Motian (drums); Paul Motian; Bill Frisell (guitar); Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone).
Recording information: AVATAR Studio, NY (04/2004).
Photographer: Robert Lewis .
The sum total of the nuanced, elliptical lyricism at the heart of Paul Motian's compositional method can be heard in the opening seconds of "Osmosis Part III," the first track from I Have the Room Above Her. Recorded for ECM -- with producer Manfred Eicher, guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano -- this date is Motian's first as a leader for the label in more than 20 years. This is the same team that recorded the seminal album It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago in 1984. At that time, Lovano and Frisell were just beginning to establish themselves as bandleaders though they had each recorded under their own names. The weight placed on each member of this band is tremendous since standard rhythmic and harmonic anchors such as bass and piano are absent. Instead, melody, spatial dynamics and a sense of expressionistic harmony become the triad on which these group interactions are built. Motian's tunes dominate the set and rightfully so, they bear the mantle of improvisational adventure -- particularly in the aforementioned "Ocmosis III" a fine revisitation of "Dance" from his 1977 album of the same name, the utterly beguiling contrapuntal swing in "The Riot Act," and an outside yet texturally lyrical exploration in "The Bag Man." The title track by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein from the film version of Showboat is utterly lovely; it sings on the tags and refrains, while keeping everything in balance as Motian's cymbal work offers support while ushering in each change. The other cover is Thelonious Monk's "Dreamland," which closes the album. Motian began his career playing with Monk and the pianist/composer's lasting influence while not obvious is nonetheless pronounced. Motian's approach to the rhythm and cadence in the tune is an independent one, he hears on the underside and urges his soloists -- particularly Lovano here -- to explore the shadowy harmonics underneath the tune's framework. Motian dances the tune on his kit, floats it, nearly suspends it and flows its fancy through his frontmen. I Have the Room Above Her is exactly what one would expect from Motian, a painstakingly realized effort that creates a virtual poetic of the measure between the adventure of jazz as creative music and the emotional depth and dimension that convey what is beautiful resoundingly. ~ Thom Jurek
To put drummer Paul Motian, guitarist Bill Frisell, and saxophonist Joe Lovano in a room together is to court majesty and genius; even if the three were playing hackneyed standards half-asleep, the results would likely be brilliant. I HAVE THE ROOM ABOVE HER is filled with the kind of technical mastery and scintillating chemistry one would expect from a trio this accomplished and advanced. Frisell's electric guitar spins choral color and spiraling, reverbed embellishments. Lovano's tenor is full-toned, and he plays with tremendous sensitivity and nuance, often holding down the melodic center while Frisell and Motian create rhythmic and harmonic frames.
The delicate imbrication of parts lends these compositions the feel of fragile, shifting houses suspended in air. Motian's drumming is crucial to this aesthetic--light years beyond standard beat-keeping, his approach to time is all suggestion and evocative accent. Aside from the Hammerstein/Kern title track and a sweet, ethereal take on Thelonious Monk's "Dreamland," all the tunes were written by Motian, his rich imagination informed by classic jazz, post-bop, avant-garde, and ambient music alike. The silent partner here is producer Manfred Eicher, whose ear for warm, resonant tones and expansive atmospheres is the perfect match for the inventiveness, lyricism, and exquisite beauty of this session.JazzTimes (p.70) - "Motian and his younger cohorts have mastered the art of an avant-gardism that's abstract but never shapeless, and thoroughly steeped in melodic yearning."