Paul Motian, Chris Potter, Jason Moran - Lost in a Dream (2010) [FLAC]

Paul Motian's 1980s/1990s trio, completed by saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell, produced some of the most compelling, not to say downright mesmeric, music to be heard in those decades, the drummer/composer's rubato ballads, slow-building smoulderers and rivetingly eccentric explorations of Broadway show tunes and standards providing a space where three of the most gifted and resourceful players of the time could stretch out and interact to make music of startling intelligence and beauty.

Lost in a Dream's trio, specially convened for a week of concert recordings in February 2009 at New York's Village Vanguard, will bring the previous one (which recorded not only for ECM, most recently in 2005, but also extensively for JMT and Soul Note) irresistibly to mind, chiefly because its members (tenor player Chris Potter and pianist Jason Moran) so clearly revel, as Lovano and Frisell did, in the musical opportunities Motian's unique vision provides for them.

Potter is, in any case, a long-time Motian associate (having been a member of the drummer's Electric Bebop Band in his early twenties) and plays alongside the delightfully spiky, wholly individual Moran in bassist Dave Holland's Overtone Quartet, so whether the trio is addressing material already recorded by its illustrious predecessor ('Abacus', for instance, appears on another Village Vanguard live recording, You Took the Words Right Out of My Heart, 'Birdsong' on 1991's Motian in Tokyo) or newer Motian compositions, it is able to draw freely on deep reserves of mutual familiarity and respect, and this compatibility and empathy is discernible throughout a programme that seems constantly to build in intensity, from the subtly insinuating opener 'Mode VI' to the ravishing closer, 'Cathedral Song'.

Potter has never sounded more powerful or confident than he does here; Moran – as anyone who's heard him live, either as a leader or with Charles Lloyd's band, will attest – is an ideal Motian partner, robustly original yet supremely sensitive to nuance; Motian himself is simply the subtlest, most musical drummer on the planet, and his compositions all reflect this, so overall, Lost in a Dream, which captures the band's sound with all ECM's customary scrupulous care, is a faultless album and comes unreservedly recommended.
(Source: vortexjazz.co.uk)

Track List:
01. Mode VI 05:09
02. Casino 08:05
03. Lost In A Dream 06:39
04. Blue Midnight 06:09
05. Be Careful It's My Heart 02:58
06. Bird Song 06:52
07. Ten 04:30
08. Drum Music 06:07
09. Abacus 04:25
10. Cathedral Song 06:29

All compositions are by Paul Motian except track 05 by Irving Berlin

Personnel:
* Chris Potter - tenor saxophone
* Jason Moran - piano
* Paul Motian - drums

Recorded live February 2009 at the Village Vanguard, NYC