Notes For Carla Bley
The ongoing tumult of these days now includes the death of composer, bandleader, and pianist Carla Bley.
Nate Chinen’s beautiful and informative obituary at the NY Times is the best place to start if you’re unfamiliar with Carla and her music. For those of us already enthralled, it’s a fitting send-off.
A moment at a 2016 Jazz Standard gig by Carla Bley’s Liberation Music Orchestra stands out:
Seated at the piano, Carla started the evening by playing a few chords unaccompanied. The club was silent, the band was waiting for their cue, and those few sonorities of Carla’s hit me like a bolt of lightening. In just a few seconds, Bley revealed a world of possibility and wonder.
The rest of the gig was great— playful, rambunctious, and as serious as your life. But had the night ended after Carla played her chords, it would still be one of the greatest concerts I’d ever attended. That moment will be with me forever.
Music is magic, and Carla was a master magician.
How about a Carla playlist?
There is certainly a need for a deep dive on Carla’s albums, with a focus on all the great drummers she played with. But that will have to wait. For now, enjoy ten Carla Bley selections with great playing from:
Pete LaRoca
Bob Moses
Paul Motian
Steve Gadd
D. Sharpe
Matt Wilson
Billy Drummond
Victor Lewis
That list nearly encapsulates contemporary music. All compositions and arrangements by Carla Bley.
Paul Bley: “Vashkar” from Footloose! (Savoy, 1963). Pete LaRoca finds a place for bebop in an open environment. LaRoca’s gently swinging eighth-note provides the perfect momentum for the Steve Swallow/Paul Bley duologue. Carla’s mysterious melody is the impetus; everything the trio plays comes from her composition.
Art Farmer: “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues”, from Sing Me Softly Of The Blues (Atlantic, 1965). One of Bley’s many masterpieces has enough bebop integrity for Art Farmer to sink his teeth in, while Steve Swallow and Pete LaRoca play a recurring form with the same openness as “Vashkar”. This approach is common now; we have Carla Bley and these masters to thank.
Gary Burton: “Some Dirge” from A Genuine Tong Funeral (RCA, 1967). Pop music was always a part of the conversation in Bley’s world. Indeed, the one afternoon I spent playing with Mr. Swallow he was sharing nuanced opinions about Rhianna— he and Carla had recently seen her on the Grammys. As Pete LaRoca found a way to bring bebop into open settings, drummer Bob Moses found a meeting place between Age of Aquarius rock energy and jazz musicianship. Carla Bley is one of the architects of fusion.
Charlie Haden: “El Quinto Regimento/Los Cuatro Generales/Viva La Quince Brigada” from Liberation Music Orchestra (Impulse, 1969). This album took the idea of ‘free music’ to an explicitly political place. Bley’s arrangements of themes from the Spanish Civil War are a nearly perfect balance of freedom and disclipine; every solo and improvised moment seems connected to a larger whole. Is this the freest Paul Motian had played on record up to this point?
(Personal note: this was the music I reached for when I heard of Carla’s passing. Carla Bley with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian is simply some of the greatest music ever.)
Carla Bley: “Why” from Escalator Over The Hill (JCOA, 1971). Charlie Haden and Paul Motian in the rhythm section, Roswell Rudd and Jimmy Lyons in the horns, and a flourish from John McLaughlin supporting a vocal from Linda Ronstadt (!!!!), Carla’s universe just keeps expanding. Is this Broadway, pop music, avant-garde jazz, fusion? When it’s this good, this powerful and joyful, it truly doesn’t matter.
Carla Bley: “Song Sung Long” from Dinner Music (WATT, 1976). The emerging smooth jazz/Steely Dan paradigm is making headway, as Steve Gadd and Stuff’s ultra-contemporary feel anchors a newly-funky and humorous Carla composition. The alto solo is from Carlos Ward, an important player who worked with Motian and Don Cherry.
Carla Bley: “440” from Musique Mécanique (WATT, 1978) Featuring D. Sharpe on drums, a Boston-based player who (if I understand correctly) went on to play with Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers1. Sharpe, Steve Swallow, and pianist Terry Adams (of NRBQ) are a perfect Carla rhythm section. Love their rock and roll feel for solos from Gary Windo and Roswell Rudd.
Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra: “Amazing Grace” from Not In Our Name (Verve, 2004). More direct and sober, fitting for the time. Drummer Matt Wilson plays straight ahead, direct and clear, perfect for Bley’s no-nonsense arrangement and magical solos from Tony Malaby, Steve Cardenas, Haden, and the much-missed Curtis Fowlkes.
The Lost Chords: “Hip Hop” from The Lost Chords (WATT, 2004). Lovely to hear Carla’s pianism in a simple jazz quartet setting. Billy Drummond plays a beautiful backbeat, with just the right amount of fills and fireworks. It’s clear: Carla’s compositions bring out the best in the performers.
Carla Bley: “Lawns”, from Sextet (WATT, 1987). One of Carla’s best-loved compositions. Victor Lewis’ beat brings us in, and his subtle changes in density and texture throughout the track are simply the highest level of musicality. This track is what it’s all about: jazz is for everyone, and Carla Bley is one of the reasons why.
Carla Bley’s cohort included Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Paul Bley, and Dewey Redman, and many more.
When I moved to New York in 2002, these folks and their wider community played gigs all the time. My peers and I were there, as often as we could afford it, which wasn’t always very often. But still, we went.
Of course, only now do I realize how lucky we were to hear these people, over and over, soaking in their aura and their sounds. As I head to Columbus, Ohio with Ember tomorrow for a series of shows and workshops, I realize, more than ever, that it’s up to us, as players and listeners, to keep it going.
Deepest respect and bottomless gratitude for Carla Bley.
Pianist Rob Schwimmer, in the comments, thinks D. Sharpe played with Richman before Bley.
Thank You very much for the tribute. So much to listen/re-listen.
I was expecting Tony somewhere, he is in his usual top form on 1977 Movies.
I believe D. Sharpe played with Jonathan Richman before he was playing with Carla. Not 100% but that’s what I remember