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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Paul Motian| image = Frisell_lovano_motian_by_MT.jpg| caption = Joe Lovano , Paul Motian and Bill Frisell in Rome| image_size =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Paul Motian| alias =| birth_date = Birth date|1931|3|25|df=y| death_date = Death date and age|2011|11|22|1931|3|25|df=yes| origin = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | instrument = Drum kit|Drums , Percussion instrument|percussion | genre = Jazz | occupation = Drummer , composer | years_active =| label =| associated_acts = Bill Frisell , Joe Lovano , Bill Evans | website =| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Stephen Paul Motian His surname is Armenian language|Armenian , and is often mispronounced "Moe-tee-un;" however, Paul Motian pronounces it "MO-shun." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=5256495 (25 March 1931 & ndash; 22 November 2011)cite web|title=Paul Motian Dies at 80|url= http://jazztimes.com/sections/news/articles/28981-paul-motian-dies-at-80|publisher=JazzTimes|accessdate=22 November 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/arts/music/paul-motian-jazz-drummer-is-dead-at-80.html? src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB Paul Motian, Jazz Drummer, Is Dead at 80, The New York Times , November 22, 2011 was an United States|American Jazz drumming|jazz drummer , percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.
He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans , and later led several groups. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties.
Biography
Motian was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and raised in Providence, Rhode Island . After playing guitar in his childhood, Motian began playing the drums at age 12, eventually touring New England in a Swing (music)|swing band. During the Korean War he joined the Navy .
Motian became a professional musician in 1954, and briefly played with pianist Thelonious Monk . He became well known as the drummer in pianist Bill Evans 's trio (1959–64), initially alongside bassist Scott LaFaro and later with Chuck Israels .cite web|title =Paul Motian: Biography |first=Steve|last=Huey |publisher=Allmusic| url =Allmusic|class=artist|id=paul-motian-p107888/biography|pure_url=yes |accessdate =23 November 2011cite book | last=Berendt|first=Joachim-Ernst| title=The Jazz Book | publisher=Paladin | year=1976|page=298
Subsequently, he played with pianists Paul Bley (1963-64) and Keith Jarrett (1967–76). Other musicians with whom Motian performed and/or recorded in the early period of his career included Lennie Tristano , Warne Marsh , Lee Konitz ,cite book | first=Peter|last=Ind | title=Jazz Visions: Lennie Tristano and His Legacy | publisher=Equinox | year=2005|page=74|isbn=978-1-84553-281-9 Joe Castro (musician)|Joe Castro , Arlo Guthrie (Motian performed briefly with Guthrie in 1968-69, and performed with the singer at Woodstock Festival|Woodstock ), Carla Bley , Charlie Haden , and Don Cherry (jazz)|Don Cherry . Motian subsequently worked with musicians such as Marilyn Crispell , Bill Frisell , Leni Stern , Joe Lovano , Alan Pasqua , Bill McHenry , Stephane Oliva , Frank Kimbrough , and many more.
Later in his career, Motian became an important composer and group leader,cite news| url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8914003/Paul-Motian.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Paul Motian | date=24 November 2011 recording initially for ECM (record label)|ECM Records in the 1970s and early 1980s and subsequently for Soul Note Records|Soul Note , JMT Records|JMT , and Winter & Winter , before returning to ECM in 2005. From the early 1980s he led a trio featuring guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, occasionally joined by bassists Ed Schuller , Charlie Haden or Marc Johnson (musician)|Marc Johnson , and other musicians, including Jim Pepper , Lee Konitz, Dewey Redman and Geri Allen . In addition to playing Motian's compositions, the group recorded tributes to Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, and a series of Paul Motian on Broadway albums, featuring original interpretations of jazz standards .
Despite his important associations with pianists, Motian's work as a leader since the 1970s rarely included a pianist in his ensembles and relied heavily on guitarists. Motian's first instrument was the guitar, and he apparently retained an affinity for the instrument: in addition to his groups with Frisell, his first two solo albums on ECM featured Sam Brown (guitarist)|Sam Brown , and his Electric Bebop Band featured two and occasionally three electric guitars. The group was founded in the early 1990s, and featured a variety of young guitar and saxophone players, in addition to electric bass and Motian's drums, including saxophonists Joshua Redman , Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)|Chris Potter , Chris Cheek , and Tony Malaby , and guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel , Brad Shepik , Wolfgang Muthspiel , Steve Cardenas , Ben Monder , and Jakob Bro .
In 2011, Motian's playing was featured on six new recordings; Live at Birdland with Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden, Samuel Blaser 's Consort in Motion , No Comment by Augusto Pirodda with Gary Peacock , plus Further Explorations with Chick Corea and Eddie Gomez . Bill McHenry's Ghosts of the Sun was released - by coincidence - on the day of Motian's death.
Motian's final album as bandleader was The Windmills of Your Mind , featuring Bill Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan and vocalist Petra Haden . Posthumous releases so far are Sunrise by the Masabumi Kikuchi Trio, released in March 2012 by ECM.
Motian died on November 22, 2011 at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, New York|Mount Sinai Hospital of complications from Myelodysplastic syndrome|myelodysplasic syndrome .cite news|title=Paul Motian dies at 80; jazz drummer and composer|url= http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-paul-motian-20111124,0,4626692.story|accessdate=25 November 2011 | work=Los Angeles Times|first=Dennis|last=McLellan|date=24 November 2011
With Pietro Tonolo , Gil Goldstein and Steve Swallow
Your Songs: The Music of Elton John ( ObliqSound , 2007)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.trovar.com/ECM/ECM.php? artist=Motian Paul Motian on ECM Records
http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2100/2128.php? lvredir=712& catid=0& doctype=Catalogue& rubchooser=901& mainrubchooser=9& acat=Artists%2FMotian+Paul%23%23Paul+Motian ECM Records discography
http://www.winterandwinter.com/index.php? id=220 Winter & Winter discography with JMT reissues
http://www.camjazz.com/site/index.php? site=& path=artist& idartist=5935 Cam Jazz discography
Persondata | NAME =Motian, Paul | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =25 March 1931 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH =22 November 2011 | PLACE OF DEATH =
DEFAULTSORT:Motian, Paul Category:1931 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American jazz drummers Category:American musicians of Armenian descent Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians Category:ECM artists Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Cancer deaths in New York
