Psalm is the fifth 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 ECM

ECM (record label)

ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...

 label. It was released in 1982 and features the first recordings 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...

, along with Ed Schuller

Ed Schuller

Edwin G. Schuller is an American jazz bassist and composer.Schuller was born in New York City; his father is Gunther Schuller and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller. Schuller learned clarinet and guitar as a child and switched to bass at age 15; that same year he had his first...

 and Billy Drewes.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow

Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...

 awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The eight compositions by drummer Paul Motian on this ECM release (which is available on CD) are rather dry and none caught on as future standards. But the playing by Motian's sidemen (tenors Joe Lovano and Billy Drewes, bassist Ed Schuller and especially the remarkable guitarist Bill Frisell) uplifted the music and gave this group a strong personality of its own. Although the results are not all that memorable, the music should please adventurous listeners. ".

Track listing

1. "Psalm" - 6:57
2. "White Magic" - 3:00
3. "Boomerang" - 5:43
4. "Fantasm" - 6:07
5. "Mandeville" - 5:03
6. "Second Hand" - 9:16
7. "Etude" - 4:16
8. "Yahllah" - 7:39

All compositions by Paul Motian

• Recorded December 1981 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg

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...
  
   – 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
• Billy Drewes – tenor and alto saxophones
• Ed Schuller
  Ed Schuller
  Edwin G. Schuller is an American jazz bassist and composer.Schuller was born in New York City; his father is Gunther Schuller and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller. Schuller learned clarinet and guitar as a child and switched to bass at age 15; that same year he had his first...
  
  – bass