Jazz Articles about Carla Bley

About Carla Bley

Radio & Podcasts

Sometimes the boys just can't agree. This is one of those times. Two new selections split them down the middle (though they at least “like" both selections), while one of the two oldies drives poor Mike (and Mike's family) up the proverbial wall (or is that escalator?) Odd crooner Scott Walker and the Giles Martin remix of Abbey Road are the focus of pop matters. Playlist Discussion of Matt Ulery's album Pollinator (Woolgathering Records) 1:40 Discussion of ...

Radio & Podcasts

Mothers Day with Birthday Celebrations for Mary Lou Williams and Carla Bley

by Mary Foster Conklin
May 18, 2020

The Mothers Day broadcast included new releases from the Posi-Tone Swingtet, bassist Anne Mette Iversen, vocalists Joan Watson-Jones, Rachelle Garniez, and Diane Schuur plus the Charles Pillow Ensemble, with birthday shout-outs to Carla Bley and Mary Lou Williams as well as a nod to a few Jazz Mothers and their children. Thanks for your continued support and please support these artists and their music. Playlist Posi-Tone Swingtet “Dry Clean Only" from One For 25 (Posi-Tone) 00:00 Rebecca Kilgore ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jon Christensen + Carla Bley, Reverso, Jason Palmer & Other New Releases

by Ludovico Granvassu
March 10, 2020

Second part of this week's review of new and upcoming releases [for the first part click here], showcasing new ECM releases by Carla Bley and Oded Tzur, the nordic forays of pianist Alessandro Sgobbio with his new project Silent Fires and a preview of the stunning new album by Jason Palmer which was recorded live at the InterContinental New York Barclay, in partnership with Jimmy and Dena Katz's Giant Step Arts, as part of the concert series curated by Mondo ...

Radio & Podcasts

New albums from Carla Bley, Lisa Hilton, Mark Godfrey, Nutria and Oded Tzur.

by Bob Osborne
February 27, 2020

There is a striking album of new music from pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow is now in its 25th year. Individual associations among the players go back much further: bassist Swallow first recorded music by Carla in 1961. Bley's distinctive piano, with its hints of Monk and Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow's eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard's yearning saxophones. This trio has a unique collective sound. The award winning composer ...

Album Review

Carla Bley: Life Goes On

Read "Life Goes On" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
February 12, 2020

After decades of illuminating and revealing work, reveling in and breaking free of shadows, it is those same shadows that still inspire and inform Carla Bley. Which perhaps explains why the title track of Life Goes On rolls in on the 12-bar like a music obsessed, post-bop cigarette girl absorbing Count Basie at Birdland in the 1950s. So let's take a brief moment to be thankful for the odd, out of time quirks that have brought us to this same ...

Album Review

Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow: Life Goes On

Read "Life Goes On" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
February 7, 2020

Coming off a recent illness, the legendary composer-pianist Carla Bley has her sense of humor and political instincts intact on Life Goes On. The trio album with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Steve Swallow completes a trilogy which began with Trios in 2013 but the three have been recording together since 1994 with their first album Songs With Legs (WATT/ECM, 1995). In a 2019 interview with German magazine Kaput Bley spoke about the synergy that makes her trio work so ...

Album Review

Carla Bley: Life Goes On

Read "Life Goes On" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 4, 2020

Pianist / composer Carla Bley is an inspiring woman. Pianist Paul Bley was inspired to marry her, and record a full album of her compositions: Barrage (ESP-Disk, 1965), in addition to including four of her originals on Open, To Love (ECM Records, 1973). George Russell included her “Bent Eagle" on his Stratusfunk (Riverside Records, 1960). Jimmy Giuffre presented his version of her “Ictus" on his album Thesis (Verve, 1961). And if these examples date the influence of Carla Bley, consider ...