When you put the words "Paul Motian" and "Live At The Village Vanguard" together, most jazz fans can't help but to think of the time this legendary drummer played at that very venue one magical Sunday in June, 1961.

But there were many other enchanted moments spent there by Motian, including a couple of dates in 1995 with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano (Sound Of Love and At The Village Vanguard). And now, we have a document of a gig he did there with his Trio 2000 aptly entitled Live At The Village Vanguard, Vol. 1.

Tenor saxman Chris Potter and bassist Larry Grenadier, along with Motian himself, make up the Motian-led Trio 2000. The "+ Two" are the temporary recruitment of alto sax player Greg Osby and pianist Masabumi Kikuchi to the base trio. Osby, combined with Potter, gives Motion a front line of horn players while the presence of Kikuchi's piano adds a chordal instrument that adds a complimentary component to the overall sound.

Those who've followed Motian only doing his career-establishing tenure in Bill Evans' trio might be surprised to find that most of his professional life since leaving Evans' band in 1963 has been spent more on the adventurous side. He played briefly with Paul Bley before settling in with Keith Jarrett's more progressive quartet of the seventies. Somewhere in between that time, he turned down the chance to replace Elvin Jones in John Coltrane's band.

Since 1977, he has led combos of his own, giving then-unknowns Frisell and Lovano their first big breaks. And in compliance with his restless nature, his bands have taken on varying configurations — most notably the Electric Be-Bop Band, which helped to launch the careers of it's two guitarists, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Brad Shepik.

Ah, but, back to the present.

Motian's current group, the Trio 2000, has been Motian's favored vehicle for advanced expression for about the last ten years. A lean vehicle that Motian hadn't minded adorning with some fancy options where the opportunity arises. For example, Kikuchi sat in on a date ten years ago, later released as 2000 + One. The talented pianist from Japan sits in again along with Osby in December, 2006 for Motian's latest release discussed here.