Motian & More is the Portuguese homage quartet to the great jazz drummer-composer Paul Motian (1931-2011), whose influence resonates deeply with double bass player Hernâni Faustino, the group’s founder, who loved Motian’s legendary role in the Bill Evans Trio, Keith Jarrett’s American quartet, and Paul Bley Trio. But Motian & More follows the sound of Motian’s seminal and long-lasting trio with Tenor sax player Joe Lovano and Guitarist Bill Frisell, originally a quintet with double bass player Ed Schuller and sax players Billy Drewes or Jim Pepper.
This quartet – with tenor sax hero José Lencastre (who is also a great admirer of Motian), guitarist Pedro Branco, drummer João Sousa, and Faustino – also feels like adapting Motian’s spirit of immersing itself totally in the moment, just like Motian said: «…A lot of times when we’re playing, I don’t really have any idea what I’m going to do. I’m going by what I’m feeling and what I’m hearing. Sounds turn me on».
The aptly-titled debut album of Motian & More, Gratitude, was recorded live at SMUP in Parede in June 2022 and at BOTA in Lisbon in March 2023. There is an obvious reverence for the seminal legacy of Motian, but Motian & More feature experienced musicians with their own strong individual voices and a strong collective chemistry.
Gratitude begins fittingly with Thelonious Monk’s playful and joyful «Misterioso» (which Motian Quintet recorded in its album by this name, Soul Note, 1987), but Motian & More allows itself more mysterious freedom in the 20-minute matching of Motian’s «Dance» (Dance, ECM, 1972) and «Abacus» (of Motian Trio’s Le Voyage, ECM, 1979). «It Should’ve happened a long time ago» (the title piece of Motian’s trio with Lovano and Frisell, ECM, 1985) highlights the role of Faustino as anchoring the quartet’s lyrical and atmospheric sound and Lencastre’s beautiful solo. Motian’s «Meanwhile» unleashed the quartet’s uplifting, post-bop energy. This excellent album ends with a powerful, cathartic cover of Motian’s «White Magic» (from Psalm, ECM, 1982), with Branco adding tons of distortion to Frisell’s guitar solo.
Eyal Hareuveni
José Lencastre (tenor saxophone), Pedro Branco (electric guitar), Hernâni Faustino (double bass), João Sousa (drums)
