"I’m only the bass player", Ed Schuller likes to emphasize repeatedly. But with the album "Serendipity" and the formation of the Reunion Trio, he has been able to cast his line and catch that renowned Moment of Revelation: Click! Everything falls into place. This album may well be considered a classic one day.
These recordings, done "live" in the A-Trane in Berlin are like an axe plunged into a frozen sea – marking a trend against the spirit of the times. You could say it’s a perfect manifesto against the mechanising of music.
Nothing appears to be co-incidental for these musicians have known each other forever – and yet floodgates and doors remain open to spontaneous improvisation. The musicological experience of three virtuosos on their respective instruments is not merely summed up here, it is the modelling of this that is refined; so that they flourish two-fold – complex and multidimensional at once – without losing on direct impact. Joe Lovano’s classical, almost apollonian tenor saxophone is sometimes passionately contrasted an sometimes ideally complemented by the four strings on Ed Schuller’s bass. The percussive centre of gravity in the band is Paul Motian in his inimitable way – a dynamic source, a fund of frugality. The result is a precise musical plumb-line that plunges straight to the depths of human existence by means of the exactitude and sovereignty of narrative style. Everything is subordinated to the clarity and substance of the message. Totally jazz!
Apart from which: Paul Motian has resolved not to go on tour again … so here’s a chance to hear 'Mr. Cymbals' again in best form in your own living room – 'LIVE' !!!