Paul Motian - Selected Recordings :rarum XVI (2004)

ECM :rarum MONTH* (MARCH 2017)

My least favorite disc in the box set. The musicianship is brilliant and Motian's credentials aren't in question; I just don't care for Motian's adventurous hard-bop and avant-garde compositions here. I'm partial to the tracks with guitarist Bill Frisell because his playing mesmerizes me.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 9 tracks, 67 minutes.

Title	Album	Year
One in Four	The Paul Bley Quartet	1987
Conception Vessel	Conception Vessel	1973
Dance	Dance	1977
Asia	Dance	1977
Folk Song for Rosie	Le Voyage	1979
Abacus	Le Voyage	1979
It should've happened a long time ago	It should've happened a long time ago	1985	✔
Fantasm	Psalm	1982
Mandeville	Psalm	1982	✔

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

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*Back in June 2015, this beautiful thing showed up at my doorstep:

It's a 12 CD box set (2008) of compilation discs from ECM's :rarum series, a birthday gift from a good friend.  In this series, the artists were given the freedom to pick their personal favorite recordings from any ECM release they've made as a leader or sideman. In other words, the label got outta the way and good for them.  I'll be making my way through the set this month.

ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), originally a German label, was founded in 1969. "Rarum" comes from the Latin root "rarus" meaning "rare" (perhaps foreshadowing that these CDs wouldn't be in print for very long).