Paul Motian: Just One of Those Things

When Paul Motian decided to reread the Broadway repertoire on a long-term basis, he was not driven by nostalgia. A musician like him, who has been considered a modernist over the last 50 years, had to have something new to say about these standards. Indeed, the sound of his trio with Frisell and Lovano was already that of a group of individuals with their own sense of phrasing and improvisation. Adding a second horn and a bass to this unusual trio could have transformed it into an almost normal quintet. But, with Konitz and Haden, it instead multiplied the possibilities of interaction between strong personalities who avoid clichés, and put their mark on a song that never sounded so young and fresh.