Monk in Motian is the first album by Paul Motian

Paul Motian

Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...

 to be released on the German JMT

JMT Records

JMT Records was a record label that specialised in contemporary jazz. It was run by Stefan Winter.JMT recorded artists included Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Greg Osby, and Django Bates. The entire JMT catalogue is being re-released by Winter & Winter, Stefan Winter's new label....

 label. It was released in 1988 and features ten compositions by Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...

 performed by Motian with Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

 and Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...

. Geri Allen

Geri Allen

Geri Allen is an American composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette,...

 and Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....

 make guest appearances. The album was reissued in 2002 on the Winter & Winter

Winter & Winter

Winter & Winter is a Munich-based record label that specializes in jazz and improvised music. Stefan Winter, also the founder of the now-defunct JMT Records, is the founder and executive producer of Winter & Winter...

 label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4.5 stars stating "This is an utterly fascinating tribute to the music of Thelonious Monk. Most of the selections feature the unusual trio of tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist Bill Frisell (who with his wide range of original sounds is really a one-band band), and drummer Paul Motian. Tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman and pianist Geri Allen are guests on two songs apiece and fit in quite well with the sparse but very complete trio. Among the ten Monk songs explored, taken apart and given surprising treatment are "Evidence," "Bye-Ya," "Ugly Beauty," and "Trinkle Tinkle." Recommended to open-eared listeners.".

Track listing

1. "Crepuscule with Nellie" - 4:57
2. "Justice (Evidence)" - 4:41
3. "Ruby, My Dear" - 4:52
4. "Straight, No Chaser" - 4:27
5. "Bye-Ya" - 5:00
6. "Ugly Beauty" - 4:57
7. "Trinkle, Trinkle" - 4:55
8. "Epistrophy" (Clarke
   Kenny Clarke
   Kenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
   
   , Monk) - 7:01
9. "Off Minor" - 4:20
10. "Reflections" - 4:48

All compositions by Thelonious Monk except as indicated

• Recorded March 1988 at A&R Recording Studios, NYC

Personnel

• Paul Motian
  Paul Motian
  Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
  
   - drums
• Bill Frisell
  Bill Frisell
  William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
  
   - electric guitar
• Joe Lovano
  Joe Lovano
  Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
  
   - tenor saxophone
• Geri Allen
  Geri Allen
  Geri Allen is an American composer/pianist educator jazz pianist, raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit Public Schools. Allen has worked with many of the greats of modern music, including Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette,...
  
   - piano
• Dewey Redman
  Dewey Redman
  Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
  
  - tenor saxophone