Five awkward conversations with Paul Motian

Here's something that's a lot of fun, from Vinnie Sperrazza, a great drummer from New York. I met him recently, when he, and my partner Casey Scott, were performing in Family Album, a new play by Heidi Rodewald and Stew, of Passing Strange fame. In the post Vinnie recounts several brutal encounters with Paul Motian, with annotated subtext. Highlights include Sperrazza daring to opine about a venue Motian says he wants to play:

Sperrazza: Oh, I don't know if you want to do that.
Paul Motian: WHAT? 

There's nothing like a good, outraged “WHAT!?”, in my book. And this response to a comment about practicing:

Paul Motian: HA HA HA HA HA HA , YEAH MAN I BEEN PRACTICING my SNARE DRUM ROLLS HA HA HA HA HA HA 

It goes on and on with similarly funny, punishing stuff. It is funny, but my feelings about it are very mixed. I think I'm kind of done with this thing of not giving people basic respect— of accepting that from others. I think I'm also done with feeling stupid for things I say when someone is purposefully being difficult to talk to. Being an asshole to the very few people over whom you have any influence is sort of a thing in the jazz world; but so is finding yourself 50-70 years old, and not getting any calls because you've been so successful at being intimidating. So people should check that stuff.

In the end, though, he caught Motian on a good day, and got treated like a human being, which is cool— go over and read the whole thing; you really need the context. Vinnie also has a new CD out, of burning, ultra-modern New York shit, so maybe if you're into good music, and into helping artists do their work, order a copy from him.