The NEC Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Ken Schaphorst, presents Dreamkeeper: Music of Carla Bley on Thursday, October 16. The concert features music composed and arranged by Bley, including “Awful Coffee,” “Greasy Gravy,” “On the Stage in Stages,” and “Jesus Maria.” The 7:30 p.m. concert takes place in Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Admission is free but tickets are required. Information at necmusic.edu.
The iconoclastic pianist, composer and arranger Carla Bley was a visionary whose works are revered for their subversive wit and anarchic grace. Prior to her death in 2023 at the age of 87, Bley left a significant imprint on the jazz canon via her indelible voice as a writer, arranger and performer. Through the incisive perspective and startling juxtapositions that made her music so strikingly original, Bley became an irrepressible force in the male-dominated jazz scene of the 1970s and ‘80s.
After dropping out of high school and moving to New York City in 1953, she met and later married Canadian pianist Paul Bley, who quickly incorporated her compositions into his repertoire. Other close collaborators included her second and third husbands, trumpeter Michael Mantler and bassist Steve Swallow. Mantler and Bley convened a number of singular musicians including Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp and Don Cherry to form the pioneering Jazz Composer’s Orchestra. Bley’s career skyrocketed in the 1960s and early 1970s with the release of major works including Escalator Over the Hill, which featured Linda Rondstadt and John McLaughlin among its massive and eclectic cast. Rolling Stone called it “an international musical encounter of the first order.”
Distinctive compositions like “Ida Lupino” and “Lawns” became oft-recorded jazz standards, while Gary Burton’s “A Genuine Tong Funeral” consisted exclusively of Bley’s music. She conducted and arranged the music for bassist Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra beginning in 1969, and assumed leadership of the politically-focused big band after Haden’s death in 2014. Bley received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972, and shortly thereafter formed the Carla Bley Band with bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Mick Taylor, and Swallow. In the 1980s Bley began experimenting with amplified music, forming an exploratory duo with Swallow. In 1994, Bley, Swallow, and saxophonist Andy Sheppard released their first trio outing, Songs With Legs, launching a fruitful collaboration that persevered for more than two decades. Among her many honors, Bley was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2015, and in 2021 was installed in the DownBeat Hall of Fame.
The Conservatory’s roster of alumni includes hundreds of music's most influential artists. That list includes Coretta Scott King, Florence Price, Tessa Lark, George Li, Inmo Yang, Yura Lee, Stefan Jackiw, Anthony Leon, Erica Petrocelli, Minsoo Sohn, Cecil Taylor, and Denyce Graves.
As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz, and contemporary musical arts. The newly launchedInstitute for Concert Artists propels such young artists as Yunchan Lim and Joshua Brown to the heights of their potential. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, the Conservatory empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC’s mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, NEC’s Expanded Education programs deliver training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.
The iconoclastic pianist, composer and arranger Carla Bley was a visionary whose works are revered for their subversive wit and anarchic grace. Prior to her death in 2023 at the age of 87, Bley left a significant imprint on the jazz canon via her indelible voice as a writer, arranger and performer. Through the incisive perspective and startling juxtapositions that made her music so strikingly original, Bley became an irrepressible force in the male-dominated jazz scene of the 1970s and ‘80s.
After dropping out of high school and moving to New York City in 1953, she met and later married Canadian pianist Paul Bley, who quickly incorporated her compositions into his repertoire. Other close collaborators included her second and third husbands, trumpeter Michael Mantler and bassist Steve Swallow. Mantler and Bley convened a number of singular musicians including Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp and Don Cherry to form the pioneering Jazz Composer’s Orchestra. Bley’s career skyrocketed in the 1960s and early 1970s with the release of major works including Escalator Over the Hill, which featured Linda Rondstadt and John McLaughlin among its massive and eclectic cast. Rolling Stone called it “an international musical encounter of the first order.”
Distinctive compositions like “Ida Lupino” and “Lawns” became oft-recorded jazz standards, while Gary Burton’s “A Genuine Tong Funeral” consisted exclusively of Bley’s music. She conducted and arranged the music for bassist Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra beginning in 1969, and assumed leadership of the politically-focused big band after Haden’s death in 2014. Bley received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972, and shortly thereafter formed the Carla Bley Band with bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Mick Taylor, and Swallow. In the 1980s Bley began experimenting with amplified music, forming an exploratory duo with Swallow. In 1994, Bley, Swallow, and saxophonist Andy Sheppard released their first trio outing, Songs With Legs, launching a fruitful collaboration that persevered for more than two decades. Among her many honors, Bley was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2015, and in 2021 was installed in the DownBeat Hall of Fame.
About New England Conservatory (NEC)
Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1867, New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston’s rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity, and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians’ impact on advancing our shared humanity and empowers students to meet today’s changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance.The Conservatory’s roster of alumni includes hundreds of music's most influential artists. That list includes Coretta Scott King, Florence Price, Tessa Lark, George Li, Inmo Yang, Yura Lee, Stefan Jackiw, Anthony Leon, Erica Petrocelli, Minsoo Sohn, Cecil Taylor, and Denyce Graves.
As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz, and contemporary musical arts. The newly launchedInstitute for Concert Artists propels such young artists as Yunchan Lim and Joshua Brown to the heights of their potential. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, the Conservatory empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC’s mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, NEC’s Expanded Education programs deliver training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.
About Carla Bley
Carla Bley (1936-2023) was an American composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader celebrated for her wit, originality, and genre-blurring approach to jazz. Emerging in the 1960s avant-garde scene, she gained prominence as a composer for the Jazz Composers Orchestra and through her ambitious, often satirical works that fused jazz, rock, and classical influences. Her landmark jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill became a cult classic, and she went on to lead innovative big bands and small groups for decades. Bley's music, marked by sharp humor, lyricism, and structural inventiveness, left a lasting imprint on modern jazz composition and performance.Visit Website | Purchase Tickets
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