2005 · Album
Joyous Encounter
Recorded 2005 · Not specified in provided sources · Produced by Not specified in provided sources
Paul Motian's Steady Hand Behind the Kit
Motian anchors this session with the kind of understated mastery that lets everyone else breathe.
What makes Joyous Encounter work is Paul Motian. By 2005, Motian was a drummer you could trust completely — the kind of player who doesn't need flash to command a room. Here, paired with George Mraz on bass and Hank Jones at the piano, he settles into grooves that feel both spacious and inevitable. On a ballad like Autumn in New York, Motian doesn't rush or oversell the moment. He leaves room for Lovano's saxophone to turn slowly in the light. On the faster pieces — Bird's Eye Voice, for instance — he drives without pushing, which is harder than it sounds.
What's distinctive about this album compared to Lovano's 2004 outing I'm All For You is partly the material itself. Lovano wrote more originals here, and Jones contributed alongside pieces from his late brother Thad. But the real constant is Motian. He'd played with both Jones and Lovano before, and that history matters. He knows how to listen. The Guardian's John Fordham caught it: the set has "more bounce and energy" than the previous year's version, and that lift comes largely from how Motian propels the rhythm section without ever sounding rushed. He's the kind of drummer who makes the pianist sound better and the saxophonist sound like he's flying. For anyone curious about how a great rhythm section actually works — not just technically correct, but alive — this is worth hearing.
Who's playing
Where next?
The musicians on this record
Time And Time Again 2007
Paul Motian
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Carnaval 1983
Hank Jones
plays piano here
plays piano here
