Real name: Stephen Paul Motian

Effective period / Period of releases: 1962 - 2024

American jazz drummer and percussionist. Born March 25, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died in Manhattan, NY, USA on November 22, 2011. "Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later was a regular in pianist Keith Jarrett's band for about a decade (c. 1967–1976). Motian began his career as a bandleader in the early 1970s. Perhaps his two most notable groups were (1) the Paul Motian Trio, a longstanding trio of guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano, and (2) The Electric Bebop Band where he worked mostly with younger musicians on interpretations of bebop standards" (Wikipedia).