ECM release CHANGE OF HEART APRIL 2006

MARTIN SPEAKE BOBO STENSON MICK HUTTON PAUL MOTIAN

In 1992 I sent Paul Motian a copy of my first cd under my own name ('In Our Time' on The Jazz Label). I didn't know Paul personally but had been listening to him for years on recordings with Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and his own bands. His playing, individual approach and his tunes were a big influence on me (and still are!). I love everything from the very swinging to the totally abstract I sent the recording for him to get an idea of my music and I rang him and asked if he would be interested in playing together in the UK if I managed to fix up some concerts. When I spoke to him he was very positive and said he would like to do it. I managed to get a week of gigs in 1993 including 2 nights at the Belfast Jazz Festival and John Parricelli and Mick Hutton were the other band members. We had a nice time and I wondered how I would be able to continue this musical relationship.It wasn't until 7 years later that I managed to organise another tour in the UK. Jim Smith the promoter of Cheltenham Jazz Festival commissioned me to write some music for an International Project.

This group featured myself, Paul, Bobo Stenson and Mick Hutton. Surprisingly Bobo and Paul, who had both recorded many times for ECM, had never played together and had only met once before. I had recently seen Bobo play in London at the Pizza Express with his trio and was really moved by the music. Bobo did not know me when I approached him about this project but he was intrigued by the idea of playing with Paul who he had always admired. This tour in 2000 worked like a dream. The Arts Council of England supported it and we did two weeks of dates consecutively. We drove in a van together and Mick and I shared the driving. The band got on really well musically and socially and I felt we had developed a great rapport. We also all received the same fee for the tour!

In the Autumn of 2001 we toured again in the UK and this was over three weeks. There were nights off and after I had all the dates confirmed the Arts Council decided not to fund it for a second time.This was very disappointing and put a lot of stress on me as I was only relying on fees from the venues for all the funding. This now of course included having to pay for hotels on the nights off. I was unable to hire a van so Mick and I drove in our two cars rather than all of us travelling in one vehicle. I can't deny this experience had many problems and I vowed never to organise a tour like this again without a tour manager and adequate funding. I also learnt that it is a good idea not to have nights off and keep the dates to two weeks maximum! Musically it was always great but it was all the other factors that go with touring that made it hard. When all I wanted to do was think about the music I was having to deal with hotels, promoters, traffic, where to eat, lack of sleep, paying people, mood swings etc.........

Meanwhile Manfred Eicher of ECM Records had heard about the project from Paul and Bobo. He was interested in the idea of a project with Paul and Bobo and also knew Mick's playing as he had recorded for ECM with First House in the 1980's. I was the only unknown quantity.

We spoke on the phone and he booked us to record at Rainbow Studios in Oslo in April 2002. This was very exciting for me and something I never imagined would happen. So many of my favourite albums are on this label and many had been recorded at Rainbow. 4 years later the music is now being released in April 2006. Paul Motian now only works in New York, Mick Hutton is unable to play double bass due to an injury and Bobo Stenson is very busy touring with his own trio. It seems the four of us will be unable to play together again so I am glad this music was documented. To promote the cd I am planning to tour this music with Nikki Iles, Steve Watts and Jeff Williams.

Martin Speake April 2006

Martin Speake, first collaborated with American drummer, Paul Motian, in 1993 for a short tour of Britain. Seven years later, andjoined by Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson and English bassist Mick Hutton, they are playing together again, thanks to Cheltenham International Jazz Festival. Martin was commissioned to compose music for the project, which was premiered at the Everyman Theatre on May 1st 2000, followed by a tour of Britain and Ireland. An added excitement was that Bobo and Paul have never performed together before. Martin's music takes elements from both Paul and Bobo's conceptions of jazz and meld them in to his own unique compositions. The importance of melody, reflection, interaction, strong grooves and a commitment to genuine improvisation is something that links each member of the band. The compositions are written so that all four master musicians had the freedom to interpret the music differently at each concert.

"When I think of percussion I think of Paul Motian…no one else plays drums like him."
Charlie Haden

PAUL MOTIAN Paul Motian is one of the most creative small group drummers in jazz. Probably best known for his unique contribution to the sound of the Bill Evans Trio in the 1950's and 60's that was featured on albums such as 'Portrait in Jazz', 'Explorations' and the extremely influential 'Sunday at The Village Vanguard'. He has also had very productive musical relationships with Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, Charlie Haden, Lennie Tristano, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell, Geri Allen, and Pat Metheny amongst others. Since the 1970's he has led his own trios, quartets and quintets and has become a very distinctive composer recording many great albums on ECM, Soul Note, JMT and Winter and Winter.

"It's been a very long time since the Bill Evans Trio with Scott La Faro showed the way in equal-input conversational improvising between a pianist, a bassist and a drummer. Swede Bobo Stenson is one of the foremost European exponents of the same art. If you like this kind of melodically rich unplugged music of unexpected twists and turns, then War Orphans (ECM) is a wonderful example."

John Fordham - The Guardian

BOBO STENSON Pianist Bobo Stenson is one of the few Swedish Jazz musicians to achieve international acclaim. His primary platform in the 60's and 70's was with the quartet he co-led with Jan Garbarek which recorded two classic albums on ECM, 'Witchi-Tai-To' and 'Dansere'. Since then he has been collaborating with musicians as diverse as Stan Getz, Don Cherry, Red Mitchell, Dave Liebman and Charles Lloyd. He has recently re-established contact with ECM records and has recorded two trio albums featuring bassist Anders Jormin and drummer Jon Christensen. 'Reflections' has won the two finest awards that a jazz record can win in Sweden - a Grammy and a Golden Record.

"I thought there was something wrong with the PA".
John Taylor (about Mick Hutton)

MICK HUTTON Mick has been a professional jazz musician since 1981 when he left his job as a train driver and during that time has played over 5000 gigs worldwide in a huge variety of settings. He has played every style of jazz from dixieland to avant-garde and has worked with a very wide variety of artists that includes Nigel Kennedy, John Surman, Humphrey Lyttleton, Bill Bruford and Mark Hollis (formerly of Talk Talk). He has appeared on over 30 jazz albums, recorded more than 200 radio broadcasts and worked in film, television and West End shows.


"Ornette Coleman's inspiration has touched jazz in many fundamental ways, but one of the most enlightening has been through the rediscovery of spontaneous ensemble playing, an activity sidelined by the bebop era. The interweaving of improvised lines around free-floating tonal centres can approach an ideal balance of stability and spontaneity in the right hands - though the risks are high. The British alto saxophonist Martin Speake, a founder member of the prize-winning all-sax quartet Itchy Fingers, has been touring with the great American drummer Paul Motian (one time regular partner to the late Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett, among many), plus John Parricelli on guitar and Mick Hutton on bass. This has been a hastily arranged marriage, Motian having heard Speake's work on record and recognised a kindred spirit. The band's performance at the Jazz Café on Tuesday showed how close in outlook they are.

Speake's saxophone sound is a mixture of fragile, silvery high-register playing and a plush, flugelhorn-like mid-range, and his momentum has an unswerving resolution of tempo. In these respects he resembles a Fifties Cool School improviser, but his phrasing represents a far more contemporary chemistry of long zigzagging lines and unexpected resolutions. The mixture perfectly suited his and Motian's material, like the whimsical Twisted Tungo and the country-tinged ballad Lullaby. Motian's light impulsive touch lent buoyancy to everything, but the London musicians sounded as if they'd worked with him for years. This writer has never heard John Parricelli, in particular, sound looser, or more freely inventive."