Customer Reviews

Motion

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

 

 

A few years ago I was listening to the Verve Story 1944-1994, a 4CD compilation which is a pretty good retrospective. Everything was going along very nicely thankyou - the usual suspects were grooving high, Getz and Gillespie, Parker and Powell, Hawkins and Haden, then BAM! I dropped everything, hit the repeat button and raised the volume - I was listening to Lee Konitz (alto) Sonny Dallas (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums)and they were doing all sorts of things to Johnny Mercer's I Remember You. It was like being struck by an unknown force. This music stood out among the greatest jazz artists of the century. It was remarkable. Clearly it was related in style to the Lennie Tristano of Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano (Rhino R2 71595) on which Mr Konitz appears. Mr Tristano's method was to have the bass and drums establish a simple but persistent and unintrusive pulse over which he would improvise harmonic, melodic and rhythmic variations. On the original MOTION this pulse was provided by Mr Sonny Dallas on bass, but the drumming is another matter which I'll return to. If Mr Rollins was the master on tenor of the trio format, then Mr Konitz is so on the alto. I consider this reissue of MOTION, which adds two previously unissued CD's to the original album, a 20th century masterwork, among the very best documentation of the alto sax in jazz. Who would think a skinny bespectacled white dude of 33 years of age and the most renowned drummer in jazz at the time whose night job was with Mr Coltrane and his Quartet at the Village Vanguard, could speak with such magic to each other? The musical conversation they had goes beyond music; perhaps because of their mutual respect, or the freedom the producer Creed Taylor allowed them. In any case, the rest of the sessions where Mr Nick Stabulas takes over the drummer's chair are also top class, and a wonderful listening experience. All the tunes are standards but the feeling, inventiveness and swing provided by these musicians makes one feel the composers would be grateful that their works were chosen as vehicles for exploration. This reissue is a valuable document of a great meeting of some master musicians.

This is a classic example of Lee Konitz's approach to improvisation--extremely long, fluid lines, with a keen, insightful, relaxed feeling throughout. Elvin Jones, capable of matching his style to almost any context, is less explosive than you'd expect him to be, but you still hear him weaving over and around and behind the beat at times. It's interesting to compare this album to Sonny Rollins' classic 1958 Vanguard recording, also with just Jones and a bassist--we don't usually think of Rollins and Konitz as occupying the same territory, but these two CD's sound eerily similar at times.

Pairing Lee Konitz and Elvin Jones seems like a strange idea, especially considering the different directions they were heading in jazz at the time of this recording, but it works. Konitz seems to be so concerned with improvisation on this session that he can't be bothered with even playing the heads; I dare you to figure out what some of these songs are without looking at the case. "Motion" is the perfect name for this record, since Jones keeps the music moving with his skittering drum work and Dallas comes along with the ride (he's the one here that seems most concerned with following the standard changes, and keeps the whole thing from getting too out of hand). This record would be difficult to listen to in one sitting, (three CDs) but is consistently enjoyable, even with multiple aternate takes.

I really don't believe in labeling a musician as "cool" or a hard bop musician, there are some musicians that transcend that category--Lee Konitz, for one, is a good example of this. Well respected by musicians he's played with such as Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan and Joe Lovano, Konitz is not afraid to stretch his horizons like exploring the avant-garde or playing the music of his mentor, Lennie Tristano. This album is a rare surprise for many because it pairs him with the great Elvin Jones, who's normally Coltrane's drummer but reveals a different facet of his talent here. From the opening track, "I Remember You", with bassist Sonny Dallas, Konitz and Jones create a groove that pulls you into their sphere. There are other tracks added to this CD with Nick Stabulus in place of Jones but Konitz is not as hot as he is when he is with Elvin. The two would pair again on an album years later on Milestone but this session is a classic to be savored over and over for lovers of true improvisation!!

It's rare for me to give a sax recording a five-star rating, but I think this one deserves it for the simple fact the Konitz takes five pretty standard songs and injects them with a flair, passion and energy that is seldom seen, at any level. All of Me and Come Home To really move, and the solos are intricate works of art, like lace made of sound. Really, there is nothing much to complain about here, because the remastered recording is very crisp and clean and the music is rich and satisfying without being overly cloying or familiar to the listener. I don't know that I'd want to search out too much more of Konitz's music, because I don't think there are many post-bop albums that can top this one without going "cool", and if you prefer your jazz "hot" like I do, this is one recording definitely worth getting.

Motion demonstrates some of the most inventive and original jazz playing I've ever heard. Konitz's improvisational ideas are unflaggingly fresh, hardly ever resorting to a familiar lick or idiomatic cliche. His modesty is also impressive; he plays quietly yet intensely, never showboating or flaunting his mastery of the instrument. His melodic genius is on display, subtly transforming small statements and ideas into beautifully conceived phrases, never restricted by the form and always always always played with a great feel. Elvin Jones, slightly reined in, also does fine work.

I tend to agree with both of the previous reviewers, even though their opinions differ considerably. I was eager to acquire this disc, based on very favorable reviews in both the Penguin Guide and the All Music Guide to jazz. I tend to think this album is one that jazz critics (and probably some musicians) enjoy more than an "average" jazz lover like myself. Although I can appreciate what Konitz has achieved here--unique and elaborate improvisations on 5 standards--there is a definite "sameness" throughout. We hear the same patterns--Konitz's cool, complex improvisations, Elvin Jones's polyrhythms, and Sonny Dallas's rather uniform walking basslines throughout the disc. The songs all end up sounding very similiar. This album does have a unique overall quality and IS different than anything else in my collection. It was very well-recorded (1961) and sounds great on this 2003 CD re-issue. However, I have a few hundred other jazz CDs that come off the shelf more often than this one. One Konitz CD that I do highly recommend is the 1967 DUETS recording--plenty of variety on that one!

This limited edition will not last long -- Don't miss your chance to get this sensational 1964 session featuring Lee Konitz at his absolute best! As amazing as is Konitz' playing, it is Elvin Jones who steals the show -- he is simply smokin' from the opening beat and never lets up for a moment in this powerhouse trio setting. Verve issued this as a single CD during the mid 1980s and it quickly went out of print. This 3-CD reissue includes all the alternate takes and unissued performances from these sessions. For Lee Konitz afficionados, this is as good as it gets!

I'm not usually keen on reissues that include alternate takes, so I don't know what prompted me to buy a three disc set mostly comprised of re-takes; what a great purchase, though! The five "official" takes from the original album with Lee Konitz (saxophone), Sonny Dallas (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums) are exceptional, and make a great album in their own right. I really appreciate the wealth of other material from these sessions, though. There are many more tunes, all done in a very interesting fashion, and the alternate takes are all rich in interestingly different interpretations of the tunes. Disc 1 includes alternate takes from the official sessions, and discs 2 and 3 include takes done with a different drummer (Nick Stabulas). What I notice most about the playing is Konitz's playing of the heads to the tunes. He is so subtle in the way he presents the melodies--only a small fragment of a phrase here and there--that you might not recognize the tune initially; if you do know the tunes, though, you will be struck by how tastefully (and elusively) he evokes the tune; it makes normal versions of the songs in which players state the whole melody seem terribly heavy-handed. This album very much captures for me the spirit of jazz as original, spontaneous improvization moving forward from a composed tune (rather than being bound by the tune and simply reproducing it). Lee Konitz currently is making lots of great music, but I like this album from 1961 the best: better even than his original work with Lennie Tristano. This album--along with the alternate takes--belongs in the collection of every serious jazz fan.

Previous reviews contain many thoughtful reasons why this album is considered a Classic. To anyone considering this purchase, I will add only this: No collection of Modern Jazz can be considered a serious one without this recording.