Three Musicians in a Tokyo Room
Motian, Frisell, and Lovano play like they've known each other for decades, even if they hadn't.
Paul Motian was a drummer who didn't sound like a drummer. By 1991, when this live recording happened in Tokyo, he'd spent decades proving that timekeeping was only the beginning of what drums could do. Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano came to the bandstand already familiar with Motian's approach—they'd worked in his groups before—and that history matters. There's no wasted motion here, no one proving anything. The three play with the kind of ease that comes from real musical conversation.
What you hear on Motian in Tokyo (1991) is three musicians listening harder than they're playing. Motian's touch is light; he's not driving the music so much as commenting on it, sometimes from the sidelines. Frisell's guitar sounds clean and spare—he's not interested in filling space. Lovano's tenor is warm and direct, the opposite of flashy. The interplay between them feels like eavesdropping on something private. They take time with melodies, let silences breathe. If you've heard Lovano's busier, more assertive work with other groups, you might be surprised by his restraint here. He's clearly responding to what Motian and Frisell want the session to be.
This sits comfortably in the later part of Motian's catalog—after he'd fully absorbed everything about how to lead without dominating. It's not the place to start if you're new to any of these players, but if you've spent time with their other work and want to hear them all three in one room, making something that feels genuine rather than showy, this is worth the hunt. The Winter & Winter reissue from 2003 helped it circulate more widely, which was overdue. It's a solid session with three players at ease with themselves and each other.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Joe Lovano
All 45 albums →
The musicians on this record
Etudes 1988
Paul Motian
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Before We Were Born 1989
Bill Frisell
plays guitar here
plays guitar here
