On Broadway 4 Or the Paradox of Continuity by Paul Motian and Trio 2000+One

On Broadway 4 Or the Paradox of Continuity

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On Broadway 4 Or the Paradox of Continuity *Features*
1. The Last Dance	Listen	Listen
2. Tea For Two	Listen	Listen
3. In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town	Listen	Listen
4. Never Let Me Go	Listen	Listen
5. Never Let Me Go	Listen	Listen
6. Folks Who Live On The Hill	Listen	Listen
7. Everything Happens To Me	Listen	Listen
8. Last Night When We Were Young	Listen	Listen
9. Born To Be Blue	Listen	Listen
10. Brother Can You Spare A Dime	Listen	Listen
11. I Loves You Porgy	Listen	Listen
12. You're Getting To Be A Bad Habit With Me	Listen	Listen
13. How Long Has This Been Going On	Listen	Listen

Since 1988, Paul Motian has recorded twenty-one albums with a variety of players - his trio with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, Tethered Moon with Masabumi Kikuchi and Gary Peacock, work with Geri Allen and Charlie Haden, the Electric Bebop Band, and Trio 2000+One (all available on Winter & Winter). Now, in 2006, Paul Motian celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday! On Broadway Vol. 4 or The Paradox of Continuity (his twenty-second album for Winter & Winter) is a very special musical gift. Motian has dedicated his whole life to music, and this album is the quintessence of his work. The great art of variation and improvisation is the great art of Paul Motian: he unravels themes, rhythms and harmonies, reducing, denaturing, and creating new things that come so close to innermost origins that unsuspected aspects of these hits are revealed.

Reader Reviews
On the year of his 75th birthday, Paul Motian has released Volume 4 in his ongoing On Broadway series. This time his group, Trio 2000 + One, features sax player Chris Potter and bassist Larry Grenadier, augmented by pianist Masabumi Kikuchi on five of the thirteen tracks and vocalist Rebecca Martin on the remaining eight. No matter that not all of the song selections are associated with Broadway: all are staples of the American Songbook, ranging from the torchy "Everything Happens to Me" to the elegiac "Last Night When We Were Young," from the poignant "Never Let Me Go" to the melodramatic "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" and the just plain campy "In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town" (I still play the song up-tempo a la Johnny Long's hit record; here we're treated to a slower, more depressive reading answering to the depression-era urban poverty row described by the song's title). Are these interpretations best thought of as serious, minimalist "performances," or as illuminating "deconstructions" of musical texts that have become obscured by over familiarity and cluttered settings? Both Potter and Martin, whose vocal quality is reminiscent of Broadway star Bernadette Peters, provide ample evidence for the former conclusion, with strong and complete readings of the material. In fact, Chris Potter's intimate knowledge of the songs and singular command of his instrument (no saxophonist is more effective at connecting the upper and lower registers of the horn) practically insure that no stone is left unturned in mining the melodic-harmonic possibilities inherent in this material. On the other hand, Kikuchi's insertion of the occasional melodic fragment as a departure point, together with his insistent use of the sostenuto pedal, moves his tracks toward atonality and abstraction. As for the rhythm section, Motian maintains meter but eschews a conventional two-beat feel as well as 4/4 swing, preferring to punctuate and highlight movement rather than establish and articulate it. Grenadier's role complements the leader's approach, though in most measures he is careful to place one of his notes on, or close to, the downbeat. Each of the tracks has something to offer, whether as a revelation or a reminder of songs that, over the course of Broadway's lengthening history, have become part not only of Motian's experience but also of public consciousness. At the same time, the somewhat limited textures and repetitious tempos of this 66-minute program will most likely discourage some listeners' attempts to digest it in a single sitting. In fact, from the opening "The Last Dance" to the closing "How Long Has This Been Going On?" there's an unmistakable sense of entropy, as though Motian's answer to the finale's question is an unmistakable "too long." The paradox, then, is that these tired tunes continue to receive periodic resurrections--in spite of and because of retirement parties such as this. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)

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