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An odd night.

Last night I was trying to think of drummers who exist in the same level of brilliance as Christensen.

Immediately Mitch Mitchell sprang to mind.

I listened to Dark Magus tonight with Mrs. jimdog.

When she retired, I poured a large glass of wine and had a look at what was on my Humax hard disc.

I decided to have a look at the bbc Jimi Hendrix documentary about Woodstock.

I really didn’t know much about that.

It turns out that Hendrix decided to stick with his finale place on the bill, despite the fact that that meant he would appear at 9am on Monday am because of a 9 hour overrun in the schedule.

Of course by that time almost all the crowd had gone and the fraction who remained were totally exhausted.

Nevertheless Jimi gave an truly stunning performance, which was shown in full in the documentary.

And while various members of the band at various points openly gave up playing and just marvelled at Hendrix, the one person who stuck close and stayed with him was Mitchell on the drums.

The after that I listened to Jon Christensen on War Orphans - wonderful open playing across all the cymbals and all the drums, playing only certain beats within a complex time signature.

What is missing. And what is present.

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Jack DeJohnette is a favorite from that generation. Paul Motian, Roy Haynes, Ed Blackwell, Tony Williams, etc, etc. All great drummers.

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Really anyone who played for Miles. He only chose the best.

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I wanted to reply dejohnette, but you were quicker
Eric Harland is fabulous too and many others…

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Those are, as you say, all great drummers.

For me, Motian is the best of the drummers you mention, by quite a large margin.

His ability to go off piste, far from the basic task of keeping time, is extraordinary.

He made such wonderful LPs with Paul Bley among others.

His discography is a thing to behold!

As leader

Compilations

  • Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)

Box Sets

  • Paul Motian - The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note (Compr. the six albums for Soul Note, CAM Jazz, 2010)
  • Paul Motian on Broadway Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Rec. 1988–2008, Winter & Winter, 2012)
  • Old & New Masters Edition: Paul Motian (Six albums rec. 1972–1984, ECM, 2013)

With Tethered Moon (Trio with Masabumi Kikuchi and Gary Peacock)

As sideman

With Michael Adkins

  • Rotator (HatHut, 2008) with Russ Lossing and John Hébert

With Geri Allen and Charlie Haden

With Mose Allison

With Tim Berne

With Samuel Blaser

  • Consort in Motion (Kind of Blue, 2011) with Russ Lossing and Thomas Morgan

With Paul Bley

With Salvatore Bonafede

  • Plays (Ken Music, 1991) with Marc Johnson
  • For the Time Being (CAM Jazz, 2006) with Joe Lovano, Michele Rabbia, Mark Dresser and Adam Rogers

With Jakob Bro

With Bob Brookmeyer

With Guillaume de Chassy and Daniel Yvinec

  • Songs from the Last Century (Bee Jazz, 2009) with Marc Murphy

With Anders Christensen

With Marc Copland

  • New York Trio Recordings Vol.2: Voices (Pirouet, 2007) with Gary Peacock

With Chick Corea and Eddie Gómez

With Eddie Costa

With Marilyn Crispell

With Furio Di Castri plus Joe Lovano Quartet

  • Unknown Voyage (A Tempo, 1988)

With Jakob Dinesen

  • Around (Stunt, 2001) with Kurt Rosenwinkel
  • Dino (Stunt, 2009) with Anders Christensen

With Bill Evans

With Pierre Favre

With Anat Fort

With Bill Frisell

With Larry Goldings

With Alexandra Grimal

With Charlie Haden

With Yuri Honing

With Keith Jarrett

With Masabumi Kikuchi (see also Tethered Moon)

With Frank Kimbrough

  • Play (Palmetto, 2006) with Masa Kamaguchi

With Lee Konitz (and Warne Marsh)

With Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden

With Lee Konitz and Steve Swallow

  • Three Guys (Enja, 1999)

With Rudy Linka

  • Songs with Larry Grenadier

With Russ Lossing

  • Dreamer (Double Time, 2000)
  • As It Grows (HatHut, 2004)

With Joe Lovano

With Joe Lovano Wind Ensemble

  • Worlds (Label Bleu, 1989; reissued by Evidence Music, 1995) with Bill Frisell, Tim Hagens, Gary Valente, Judi Silvano, Henri Texier

With Warne Marsh

With Bill McHenry

  • Bill McHenry Quartet Featuring Paul Motian (Fresh Sound, 2002)
  • Roses (Sunny Side, 2007)
  • Ghosts of the Sun (Sunny Side, 2011)

With Helen Merrill

With Sam Most

With Simon Nabatov

With Stéphan Oliva and Bruno Chevillon

  • Fantasm - The Music of Paul Motian (BMG France/RCA Victor, 2000)
  • Intérieur nuit (Night Bird, 2002)

With John Patitucci

  • One More Angel (Concord, 1997)

With Enrico Pieranunzi

  • Untold Story (IDA, 1993; reissue EGEA, 2006) with Marc Johnson
  • Flux and Change (Soul Note, 1995)
  • The Night Gone By (Alfa Jazz, 1996) with Marc Johnson
  • Fellini Jazz (CAM Jazz, 2003) with Kenny Wheeler, Chris Potter and Charlie Haden
  • Doorways (CAM Jazz, 2004) with Chris Potter
  • Special Encounter (CAM Jazz, 2005) with Charlie Haden
  • New York Reflections: Live at Birdland (CAM Jazz, 2012) with Steve Swallow
  • Live at the Village Vanguard (CAM Jazz, 2013) with Marc Johnson

With Augusto Pirodda

  • No Comment (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011) with Gary Peacock

With Enrico Rava

With Gonzalo Rubalcaba

  • Discovery: Live at Montreux (Somethin’ Else/Blue Note, 1991) with Charlie Haden

With Jacob Sacks and Eivind Opsvik

With Saheb Sarbib

  • Seasons (Soul Note, 1982) with Mark Whitecage and Mel Ellison

With Zoot Sims

With Martial Solal

  • Just Friends (Dreyfus, 1997) with Gary Peacock
  • Balade du 10 Mars (Soul Note, 1999) with Marc Johnson

With Martin Speake

  • Change of Heart (ECM, 2002) with Bobo Stenson and Mick Hutton

With Bobo Stenson

With Henri Texier

  • Respect (Label Bleu, 1997) with Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Konitz and Steve Swallow

With Pietro Tonolo

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But…for me, Christensen (and Mitchell) are even better, each in their own way.

It’s hard to articulate why, but with Christensen it’s something to do with his relationship to predictability and rhythm.

Christensen never to me seemed to be just ‘noodling along’. He had great intuition for navigating the terrain of improvisation between making up what comes next and having a purpose.

But that just how it strikes me.

With Christensen the tracks ‘War Orphans’ and ‘Glacial Reconstruction’ give a good sense of this.

He leaves behind an amazing body of work:

As leader

  • 1976: No Time for Time (Pan)

As sideman

With Yelena Eckemoff

  • 2015: Everblue (L&H Production)
  • 2020: Nocturnal Animals (L&H Production)

With George Russell

With Lee Konitz, Pony Poindexter, Phil Woods and Leo Wright

With Steve Kuhn

With Jan Garbarek

With Bobo Stenson

With Terje Rypdal

With Ketil Bjørnstad

With Keith Jarrett

With Ralph Towner

With Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn and Steve Swallow

  • 1975: We Could Be Flying (Polydor, 1975)

With Eberhard Weber

With Enrico Rava

With Radka Toneff Quintet

  • 1977: Winter Poem (Zarepta)

With Terje Rypdal and Palle Mikkelborg

With Masqualero (Arild Andersen)

  • 1983: Masqualero (Odin)
  • 1986: Bande a Part (ECM)
  • 1988: Aero (ECM)
  • 1989: Re-Enter (ECM)

With Blow Out

  • 1977: Blow Out (Compendium)

With Miroslav Vitous

With Rainer Brüninghaus

With Mike Nock

With John Clark, David Friedman and David Darling

  • 1981: Faces (ECM)

With Harry Pepl and Herbert Joos

With Lillebjørn Nilsen, Arild Andersen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Erik Kongshaug

With John Abercrombie

With Charles Lloyd

With L. Shankar

  • 1989: M.R.C.S. (ECM)

With Sidsel Endresen

  • 1990: So I Write (ECM)

With Knut Riisnæs

  • 1992: Knut Riisnæs - Jon Christensen Featuring John Scofield - Palle Danielsson (Odin)

With Anouar Brahem

With Misha Alperin

With Lars Danielsson, David Liebman and Bobo Stenson

  • 1997: Live at Visiones (Dragon)

With Tomasz Stańko

With Dino Saluzzi

With Jacob Young

With Carsten Dahl and Arild Andersen

With Carl Petter Opsahl and Tord Gustavsen

  • 2008: Love, the Blues (Park Grammofon)

With Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad

  • 2011: Mitt Hjerte Altid Vanker – I Live at Oslo Jazzfestival (Compunctio)
  • 2011: Mitt Hjerte Altid Vanker – II Live at Uppsala Sacred Music Festival (Compunctio)
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You probably know this, but the ECM LP ‘Not Two, Not One’ with Motian, Bley & Peacock is very good.

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@JimDog, and @JosquinDesPrez, the last Jeremy Pelt seems very nice. The sound quality of Pelt albums is specially good too, up to ECM standard.

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Thanks. Three great players. Gary Peacock is one of my favorite double bassists (along with David Holland). I always like these musicians.

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Thanks. I’ll check it out.

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I just got Charles Lloyd Voice In The Night on vinyl today. It’s been a streaming favorite on Qobuz. Looking forward to spinning it this evening.

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I recently discovered a great Paul Bley LP - Notes on Ornette from 1997 with Jay Anderson on bass and Jeff Hirshfield on drums.

It sounded like the 3 of them were really enjoying playing these tunes together.

The drummer - Jeff Hirshfield - also plays on an LP called Second Stream with pianist Yago Vazquez.

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On (so called) Lockdown.

Just discovered this film of Jon Christensen…navigating the terrain of improvisation between making up what comes next and having a purpose.

He’s not just playing the drum skins with his sticks - he’s not just playing rimshots - he’s playing the sides of the drums, he’s turning the sticks around and pressing the tip into the skin, he’s playing the sides of the drum bodies, he’s playing across the rims and skins of several drums and various cymbals in long sweeping movements that he makes up in response to what the band as a whole is playing, he’s making music with standard rhythm patterns and also way beyond standard notation as the musical need arises…

No one does that like JC…

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Heard this morning that ECM is postponing all of its April releases - a really pity as there was some great stuff coming up from the likes of John Scofield, Benjamin Moussay, Jon Balke, Marcin Wasilewski and Joe Lovano.

I think we will see a lot more of this; there is simply no-one around to manufacture and send out LPs and CDs, and fewer outlets selling them…

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Many years ago, it was my growing ECM collection that originally led me to upgrade my HIFI equipment. They were such wonderful recordings, how could I not find something better to listen with and do them justice? It has been Naim ever since. Jim, all those artists in your post have figured in my musical listening for a lot of my adult life. and what am I listening to as I write ? . . .

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. . yes, fantastic percussionist, also check out Marilyn Mazur, played with Garbarek, E.Weber, G.Evans and Miles. . . . . but you probably know that anyway. Great thread, I am enjoying it.
Thanks

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Powerful stuff, Egugu conjured up a wild ceremonial march, for me.
I have popped this album in to my listening for later. Thank you Richard.

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I’ve been playing some Gary Peacock…

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ECM were already on a relatively quiet year running at half what they would normally release after the excesses of the 50th anniversary.

Time to listen to the rich back catalogue and look forward to the next ones when they come.

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Dave Holland was doing a late gig at Ronnie Scott’s the other day, when Mrs. jimdog and I were in London.

But by the time we’d been to see the Brad Mehldau Trio at the Barbican we couldn’t take another jazz gig in the same night.

Meanwhile, our upcoming visit to see GoGo Penguin at the Albert Hall in Manchester has been postponed until November.

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