Motion Poets at Williams College
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Oct. 28, 1996) -- Motion Poets, a Minneapolis- based sextet of Generation-X jazz musicians, played an enjoyable program of original, ensemble jazz in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall at Williams College on Friday night.
The group's lineup, with three horns, piano, bass and drums, recalls the early New Orleans and Dixieland jazz groups, but any resemblance was mostly superficial.
What Motion Poets does have in common with bands from that era is a strong group sound or group identity, in this case located in both the tone of the horns and in the general approach the group takes toward its arrangements.
"Yesterdays Past," a composition by bassist Chris Bates, began in typical fashion with a lush, lyrical intro featuring mournful horn harmonies. Trombonist Mark Miller took the first solo, playing a melody consisting of rounded, sung notes with a warm vibrato, around which pianist Nate Shaw danced and under which drummer J.T. Bates laid down splashes of cymbals. Chris Bates followed Miller with an eloquent solo that made ample use of silences, harmonic overtones and dynamics. He played fluid lines and strummed chords, which Shaw played off of with harmonies and dissonant clusters of his own. The song had an unstated yet driving pulse, and it was brought to a rousing conclusion with an elegant orchestral passage.
Whereas "Yesterdays Past" was temperate and reassuring, "E=mc[ squared symbol ]," by trombonist Mark Miller, was an aggressive bit of bebop. The Bates brothers kicked it off with a fast, driving rhythm, and the horns sailed in with a low, swooping riff, which trumpeter Mark Sutton, Williams Class of '93, then rode over with some fast, single-note lines. Alto saxophonist Doug Little took the main solo, but much of it was buried beneath the avalanche of J.T. Bates' wild drumming. When Little was done, the Bates brothers traded fours, and when pianist Shaw joined the fray, the group achieved the elusive goal of playing "in the moment."
Another tune took a New Orleans-type, Mardi Gras parade rhythm and grafted a warped chord progression on top. Saxophonist Little punched through the mix with some muscular figures, Shaw and Chris Bates did an exciting tete-a-tete, and the horns returned to bring it home in a Horace Silver, funk style.
The group boasted strong, tight unison playing, and the horns all had a complimentary warm, deep and rounded tone, giving the band its character and feel. The compositions and solos were infused with a deep appreciation for jazz history and were accessible without being trite. Occasionally J.T. Bates' powerful drums threatened to overwhelm the ensemble. This might have been an acoustic quirk of the room, but a more seasoned drummer would have worked with it and toned things down a bit.
Outside of dance-oriented swing bands, true ensemble playing is rare in jazz, which has tended to favor the individual over the group ever since Louis Armstrong picked up his horn. The Motion Poets are working towards achieving the elusive goal of embodying the democratic ideal with harmonious improvisation.
[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Oct. 28, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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