Analysis:
In the theme, Charlie Haden plays exactly the ‘kicks’ (accents) of the melody. Paul Motian never plays the original swing cymbal beat. Instead, he interprets the melody using all his limbs and points out the kicks of the melody as well. He doesn’t play the swing pattern but the swing feel can be heared and felt through his phrasing.
During the piano solo, Charlie Haden plays dotted quarter note cross-rhythms for very long periods of time and then becomes busier and busier as the solo evolves. Paul Motian plays broken time all aroud the drumkit and sometimes he even plays free.
We realize that the actual time keeper is Keith Jarrett, the pianist of the trio and not the rhythm section that we would normally expect. In general, we see the trio in the border-line between free and not free.
What can we learn from this example?
With this performance, we see that the Rhythm Section doesn’t always need to be the time keeper of the band. If a soloist is very clear and tight during his/her solo, the bass-player and the drummer can go into various directions or play less, which creates different opportunities for interaction.
