MARTIN SPEAKE - Change of Heart (2006) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The roots of the “Change of Heart“ project go back to 1993, when English saxophonist Martin Speake, for many years an admirer of Paul Motian’s music (he has cited Motian’s trio with Frisell and Lovano as his “favourite band in jazz”), sent some of his own work to the great American drummer. Paul responded with enthusiasm, and a tour of Britain was quickly set up, in a new group that included Mick Hutton on bass. The ’93 group played both Speake’s and Motian’s pieces, and excited the press. In The Guardian, John Fordham wrote that, “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...Motian’s light, impulsive touch lent buoyancy to everything, but the London musicians sounded as if they’d worked with him for years...”.
 
With a commission to prepare new music for the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2000, Speake added Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson to the quartet, shaping material to accommodate Stenson’s conception of jazz, as well as Motian’s. At the time, Speake stressed “the importance of melody, reflection, interaction, and strong grooves in the music. A commitment to genuine improvisation is something that links each member of the band.” Motian and Stenson, who had never played together before, got along so well that the drummer subsequently joined the Swedish pianist’s band, recording with him on the acclaimed “Goodbye” album (ECM 1904).
 
The quartet made two tours of Britain before heading to Oslo to make “Change of Heart”, under Manfred Eicher’s direction. Inside Speake’s well-crafted compositions, it is the interaction between Stenson’s rolling piano and Motian’s capricious drums that gives the group its unique impetus, but bassist Mick Hutton also has many strong moments - ‘earthing’ the music, providing an emotional undertow, his choice of notes occasionally reminiscent of Charlie Haden. The leader’s acerbic alto hovers o. ecm
Tracklist :
1    The Healing Power Of Intimacy 6'57
(Martin Speake)
2    Change Of Heart 4'39
(Martin Speake)
3    Barefaced Thieves 5'26
(Martin Speake)
4    Venn 4'15
(Martin Speake)
5    Buried Somewhere 9'01
(Martin Speake)
6    In The Moment 5'12
(Martin Speake)
7    Three Hours 8'18
(Martin Speake)
8    In Code 8'38
(Martin Speake)
Credits :
Martin Speake   Saxophone
Bobo Stenson   Piano
Mick Hutton   Bass
Paul Motian   Drums