Customer Reviews

Garden of Eden

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is packaged with a sticker describing it as "central to what jazz is becoming, where it's moving." It's a quote from Ben Ratliff circa 2003, describing Paul Motian's Electric Be Bop Band. This band adds a third guitar to that EBBB configuration (two guitars, two tenors, bass and drum), but it's essentially the same concept. In Ratliff's article, Motian recalled playing with Bill Evans and Scott LaFaro; he said they wanted to "make a music that wouldn't have a date on it -- that in the year 2000 people could listen to this music that was being made in 1959, and it might still sound fresh."

I listen to most of the new jazz every year, and I think Ratliff is absolutely right: This is where jazz is going. The music has become more focused on space, on playing less rather than more, and that's a textbook description of Motian's style. Brian Blade described Motian's drumming as "transcendent." He plays with an incredibly open feel. He doesn't keep time by clicking away a 4/4 beat between the ride and snare; you might say he acknowledges time, with a brush here and three flicks of a cymbal there.

The program on "Garden of Eden" uses bebop standards as bookends, but there's plenty of original material. "Mesmer" is a composition that develops like Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti" -- a melody that's sort of like circling a small town in an airplane, looking down at something different on each pass. The angular "Mumbo Jumbo" builds a complex tension that almost feels more like suspense. All the tunes -- seven by Motian, and one each by Cardenas and Cheek -- are carefully crafted, and all are fitting to the feel of Motian's band: which has nothing to do with solos or chord changes, and a lot to do with hanging music onto a frame.

Obviously, this septet is unconventional. Most bandleaders, when they feel like breaking the mold, remove their harmonic instruments. Motian went the other way; he took his EBBB, already heavy with two guitars, and added one more. He's definitely painting with a color that no one else is using -- and that's partly why it's exciting. For decades, arrangers have been warned to be careful using two harmonic instruments because the two can crowd each other and create a muddy sound. Motian stacks three electric guitars on top of each other, and his music works.

It's partly because his music is unique. He distinguishes between timbre and texture; and he leaves plenty of space, as both a composer and a drummer, for everyone to find their places. Also, it's partly because the band is just that good: Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby play tenor saxophones; Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, and Jakob Bro form the guitar line; and Jerome Harris takes the electric bass. It's definitely worth your time to listen to this album with a good pair of headphones; Cardenas and Bro, along with the horns, are panned just enough off-center to easily distinguish who plays what, but there's enough blending that they still sound cohesive. It's a credit to first-rate engineering.

Motian wanted to make timeless music; and I think that, throughout his career, he's done exactly that. He has never compromised his vision, not once in nearly a half-century, and now it seems he's accomplished his goal; in 2006, players are just getting around to checking out the ideas he was working with in 1959. It's safe to guess this album will hold a good 40-year shelf life, too -- and in the meantime, it's great music.

Listening to this disc, I fall into it so wonderfully that my thougts start to fade away and merge with the music--or maybe it is that the music influences my thoughts. Either way, I almost forgot that there was music playing, and, only at certain points began to "hear" it as something separate from my existence. It is dreamy and surreal, but also precise and detailed. You can forget about listening to a particular instrument or trying to deconstruct the music. It is a very good disc because of its unity, and I would recommend buying it if you can.

. . . How are all these players going to keep out of each other's way?

After all, we've got two very accomplished saxophonists, Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby, linked up with three major guitar voices, Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, and Jakob Bro, the first two a couple of my favorites and the last a newcomer who makes a very large impression. A large part of the genius of this CD is that drummer/leader Paul Motian finds a place for everyone--and not in just some static sense; what I mean is, that all have both an integral and an interesting part to play. Amazingly, leader Motian locates the exact right context for each of these strong personalities, discovering a way to integrate their particular genius into the overall soundscape conception, one of languidity not unrelated to that of his previous release, the brilliant I Have the Room Above Her, but surpassing it in nuance and subtlety.

Don't be fooled by this disc's languorous somnolence, most notably displayed on "Etude" but pretty much the MO of the entire thing: there's plenty of compositional, dialogic, and ensemble rigor to situate this disc squarely in the jazz tradition. And Motian's selection of standard composers (Mingus, Monk, and Parker), combined with bandmates Cardenas's and Cheek's rigorous contributions as well as his own, eschew even the slightest whiff of jazz lite.

Granted, on paper this looks like a lumbering behemoth of a concept and band, but, magically, it works wonderful in the actual hearing. Entirely worth checking out.

Everything you go to Paul Motian for is here: his sober thoughtfulness, his pessimism, his lyricism and insistence on beauty in the midst of grief. As usual, there is the emphasis on song, sometimes keening, sometimes crooning, sometimes kidding, and, as usual, the shadow of Ornette Coleman smiling in the background. I have a lot of Motian, but I can safely say this is the first collection of his where I am not finding myself skipping over any tracks. All are equally strong. A particularly delicious surprise is the discovery of Jerome Kern's "Bill" in the middle of the mix, harking back to the days of the "On Broadway" albums with Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell and Charlie Haden, that introduced the saxophone/electric guitar sound that subsequently expanded into the Electric BeBop Band, and now the two-saxophone-three-guitar manifestation on "Garden of Eden". This is music of the highest order.

This ( and 'the previous trio with Frisell and Lovano on ECM) come highly recommended. Motian is recording some really entertaining jazz. Here the big group (3 guitars + dr, bass & wind) tackles a couple of Mingus and a Parker tune in extraordinary arrangements courtesy of Motian, i am sure. But the originals are really outstanding as they were composed and played with tradition in mind, and a free-ish (think Coleman) style also. Just the best jazz around. Period.

Veteran drummer Paul Motian has put together an unusual septet with two saxophonists (Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby), three guitarists (Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, and Jakob Bro), a bassist (Jerome Harris), and drums (Paul Motian). Of the 14 cuts in this collection, half are by Motian, two are by Charles Mingus ("Pithecanthropus Erectus" and "Goodbye Porkpie Hat"), and one each is by Thelonious Monk ("Evidence"), Jerome Kern ("Bill"), Charlie Parker ("Cheryl"), and bandmates Cheek and Cardenas.

Although there are times when the mixture of instruments weaves a thick sonic tapestry, for the most part that arrangements are relatively spare. The arrangements often tend toward the dreamlike, with sounds morphing into each other. Still, Harris and Motian provide a rhythmic underpinning, so things are kept from getting overly nebulous. If what you want from a jazz septet is crisp, driving melodies with plenty of forward propulsion, you will have to look elsewhere; but if you favor dreamlike sonorities and rich colors, you may well find this music quite to your liking. This is clearly not jazz for everybody, but those who do enjoy such music will find plenty to like.

This is my first time hearing Paul Motian's work, and the first time hearing any of the other musicians featured on here for that matter.

I agree with the reviewers below who have stated that this album consists of a lot of space and is a great album for relaxing and reflecting on one's day. Putting the two saxes and the different guitars on different sides of the speakers is a nice effect. It allows the listener to get really absorbed by the music. The music tends to stay rather mellow, except for a few peak sections where it gets a little intense.

The three guitars going at once here is a nice, unique touch. That along with the interplay between the saxes are among the features which make this album unique. A lot of the album is rather "free" in nature. Overall this is a fine album and worth listening to.

You wouldn't expect such great congruence of sound from such an odd format.

Loved it.

I was concerned about an ensemble with three guitars and two saxes. My fears were groundless. The thoughtful interplay, and sublime playing is of the highest caliber.

One of the best ECM records in quite a while I must say. The first Motian record I bought, on the recommendation of Le Temps.