Carla Bley: Joyful Noise – Live In Hamburg 1984

For a brief human moment, let us imagine that pianist/composer/maestro Carla Bley was cast as a villainess on the low-camp-crazy 60's Batman TV show. Yes, that one. The one with Adam West running around in tights. Who would Bley be? Perhaps, with her humorous inquests into any musical form that might threaten Gotham, she would be dubbed The Dabbler. Yes, The Dabbler! Or maybe, The  Dancer! The woman in the opulent headpiece who always took the lead.

For the sake of arguing among friends, let us dub her The Dabbler. Bley working the margins of West Coast smooth cool with Jimmy Giuffre. Hot wiring 60's avant-garde with Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Larry Coryell, (The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (JCOA, 1968)). Springing gnarly jazz opera on the unsuspecting public with names from all ends of the spectrum. Linda Ronstadt, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Paul Motian (Escalator Over the Hill (JCOA,1971)). Her lifelong partnerships and collaborations with Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow. But it was her cerebral temperament that held sway, producing such often recorded comedic broadsides as "Ida Lupino," "Sing Me Softly of the Blues," "Floater," "King Korn," and "Donkey."

"La Paloma," introduced by Bley as an old piece of music, breaks then and now wide open, bringing Joyful Noise—Live In Hamburg 1984 to life in all its raucous own. Discovered on a shelf in a closet somewhere in the NDR archives, Joyful Noise—Live In Hamburg 1984 is masterclass Bley: Prankish. Puckish. Provoking. But danceable. Always danceable. Recorded live, too.

Recorded hot and live because that is precisely how "Talking Hearts,"  "Joyful Noise," (Swallow's fevered bass leading the charge) "To Ya"—(Bley's gospel hewn organ, its crawdad flavored horns, courtesy of then husband, trumpeter Michael Mantler, trombonist Gary Valente, Bob Stewart on tuba, Vincent Chancey french horn, Steve Slagle (alto/soprano saxophones, flute) and Tony DaGradi tenor sax, clarinet)—are live-r than ever here in Hamburg.

"Light or Dark" kicks in the pants, too! Kicks hard. Rip-roaring solos by the three saxophones. Drummer Victor Lewis bashing with the best of them. The crowd loves it. They also love immensely the charged, yet oddly relaxed tempo of Bley doing Thelonious Monk doing "Misterioso" Bley's way. Give it a close listen. Hear Bley call out Intermission.

Fortunately, the wait is not akin to that at any local DMV, and the swanky "Venus Fly Trap" sweeps in like Duke Ellington with pianist Ted Saunders looping around the horns as the whole ensemble steps into the dance-floor spotlight. As if needing to clear the dance floor fast, "Nu Derection," a deceptive piece of sheer merriment that takes the form of a bayou chorus line one moment, a runaway train fusion outfit the next, then a night out for a group of hopping free jazz traditionalists. The Dabbler strikes again! Then she strikes again (the slurry, bluesy "Ending It") and again (the air bending "Starting Again -Ups And Downs") and again ("Battleship," "Copyright Royalties") and Joyful Noise—Live In Hamburg 1984 becomes immediate muscle memory.