My favorite Drummer Paul Motian dies at 80.

Drummer Paul Motian passed away on Tuesday. A sad day.

 His work has been a huge influence on me, from his days in the Bill Evans trio to his many recordings as band leader of the Paul Motian Trio.

  The record that changed so much about how I personally think about music was Paul Motian's Trio record "Monk In Motian". I am a huge Thelonious Monk fan and spotted this record when it was first released in 1988. As a guitarist I was obviously blown away by Bill Frisell as well as saxophonist Joe Lovano, but it was really what Motian was doing on the drums that intrigued me the most. I think I was almost through my first listening of Monk In Motian before I realized there was no Bass player. He used a deep tuning on his kick drum and it always covered the bass part. You always heard the melody and song form in his playing even when it was more abstract. Just a very musical player.

  I really heard his playing as a very complete painting that set the foundation for Lovano and Frisell to further abstract and color upon. One of the great ones! RIP Paul Motian.

Here is the link to the New York Times article.

Paul Motian, Jazz Drummer, Is Dead at 80

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: November 22, 2011

Mr. Motian, a drummer, bandleader, and composer of grace and abstraction, was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/arts/music/paul-motian-jazz-drummer-is-dead-at-80.html