Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paul Bley: Chaos

137

Paul Bley: Chaos

By

View read count
Paul Bley: Chaos
Chaos is a new collaborative effort from experimentalists Paul Bley (p), Furio Di Castri (b) and drummer Tony Oxley. What we have here is a series of duets, solos and trio settings.

The Bley composition “Poetic Justice” typifies some of the trio’s introspective pieces which generally reside within the free jazz realm. Bley provides the melodic interludes while Oxley and Di Castri explore various rhythmic structures. Oxley’s inventions on the kit are legendary. His arsenal of odd sounding percussion instruments and his ability to shift gears midstream conveys the sense of playfulness. Bley’s solos prove to be at times, ethereal and haunting. Bley is no slouch at churning out a beautiful ballad but his reputation as an avante-garde musician generally preceeds him.

Overall, the trio compositions tend to evoke shifting moods, diverse motiffs and occassionally, hints at what Bill Evans may have accomplished with some free jazzer’s back in the saddle. There are a few solo performances and duets. Oxley at times seems comedic behind the kit; however, this reviewer will candidly admit that the overall seriousness of this project may leave some bewildered.

Bley and company have churned out a very interesting collection of tunes that stretch the imagination and boundaries of jazz.

Track Listing

Chaos, Touching Bass, Modulating, Soft Touch, Poetic Justice, Interpercussion 1, Touch Control, Turnham Bey, Street Wise, Bow Out, Starting Over, Interpercussion 2, Template.

Personnel

Paul Bley
piano
Furio Di Castri
bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Chaos | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Soul Note

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.