Carla Bley, née
Borg, (born May 11, 1936) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
pianistJazz piano is the use of an acoustic piano or electric piano as an improvising, comping or leading instrument in a jazz group/jazz fusion ensemble or as a solo instrument. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings...
,
organistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and band leader. An important figure in the
Free JazzFree jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s.Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Escalator Over The HillEscalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction" with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.-History:The critically acclaimed...
(released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including
Gary BurtonGary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
,
Jimmy GiuffreJames Peter Giuffre was an American jazz composer, arranger and saxophone and clarinet player. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, Giuffre was a...
,
George RussellGeorge Allen Russell was an American jazz pianist, composer and theorist. He is considered one of the first jazz musicians to contribute to general music theory with a theory of harmony based on Jazz rather than European music, in his book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization...
,
Art FarmerArthur Stewart Farmer , was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player...
and her ex-husband
Paul BleyPaul Bley, CM is known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
.
Bley was born in
Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
. Her father, a piano teacher and church choirmaster, encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano.
Carla Bley, née
Borg, (born May 11, 1936) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
pianistJazz piano is the use of an acoustic piano or electric piano as an improvising, comping or leading instrument in a jazz group/jazz fusion ensemble or as a solo instrument. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings...
,
organistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and band leader. An important figure in the
Free JazzFree jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s.Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Escalator Over The HillEscalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction" with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.-History:The critically acclaimed...
(released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including
Gary BurtonGary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
,
Jimmy GiuffreJames Peter Giuffre was an American jazz composer, arranger and saxophone and clarinet player. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, Giuffre was a...
,
George RussellGeorge Allen Russell was an American jazz pianist, composer and theorist. He is considered one of the first jazz musicians to contribute to general music theory with a theory of harmony based on Jazz rather than European music, in his book, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization...
,
Art FarmerArthur Stewart Farmer , was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player...
and her ex-husband
Paul BleyPaul Bley, CM is known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
.
Biography
Bley was born in
Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
. Her father, a piano teacher and church choirmaster, encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano. After giving up the church to immerse herself in
roller skatingRoller skating is the traveling on smooth terrain with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation...
at the age of fourteen, she moved to
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
at seventeen and became a cigarette girl at
BirdlandBirdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
, where she met jazz pianist Bley, whom she married in 1957. He encouraged her to start composing. The two later divorced.
Her compositions were soon beginning to appear on record — for example, "Bent Eagle" on George Russell's
Stratusphunk in 1960, and then
Ictus on Jimmy Giuffre's
Thesis-Track listing:#"Ictus" #"That's True, That's True" #"Sonic" #"Whirrrr" #"Carla" #"Goodbye" #"Flight" #"The Gamut" Additional tracks on 1990 ECM reissue:# Me Too...
and Paul Bley's
Barrage.
In 1964 she was involved in organising the Jazz Composers Guild which brought together the most innovative musicians in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the time. She then had a personal and professional relationship with
Michael MantlerMichael Mantler is an Austrian trumpeter and composer in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
, with whom she had a daughter,
KarenKaren Mantler is an American jazz musician and composer. She is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler.Mantler appeared on the album Escalator Over the Hill as a child, which featured both her parents. She learned glockenspiel and was a member of her mother's band from 1977 to 1980. She...
, now also a musician in her own right.
With Mantler, she co-led the Jazz Composers' Orchestra and started the JCOA record label which issued a number of historic recordings by
Clifford ThorntonClifford Thornton was an American free jazz trumpeter and trombonist. Born in Philadelphia in 1936, he studied with trumpeter Donald Byrd in the mid-1950s and worked with various players such as tuba player Ray Draper. After a stint in the army, Thornton moved to New York City...
,
Don CherryDon Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz trumpeter whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, and who would go on to live and work with a wide variety of musicians in many parts of the world.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and...
and
Roswell RuddRoswell Rudd is an American jazz trombonist and composer.Although skilled in all styles of jazz and other genres of music, he is known primarily for his work in free and avant-garde jazz...
, as well as her own
magnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer.The term Great Work is also used in several...
Escalator Over The HillEscalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction" with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.-History:The critically acclaimed...
and Mantler's
Jazz Composers' Orchestra LPs. Bley and Mantler followed with
WATTWATT is a radio station broadcasting a news-talk-sports format. Licensed to Cadillac, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1945....
records, which has issued their recordings exclusively since the early 1970s. Bley and Mantler were pioneers in the development of independent artist-owned record labels and also started the now defunct New Music Distribution Service which specialized in small, independent labels that issued recordings of creative improvised music.
Bley has collaborated with a number of other artists, including
Jack BruceJohn Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician, composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and pianist, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream. He lives in Suffolk...
,
Robert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine...
and
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
drummer
Nick MasonNicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is the drummer for Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1964. He also competes in auto racing events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans...
, whose 1981 solo album
Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports was a Carla Bley album in all but name. She arranged and composed music for
Charlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
's
Liberation Music OrchestraLiberation Music Orchestra is a jazz album by Charlie Haden, released in 1969 . It was Haden's first album as leader.The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War...
, and wrote
A Genuine Tong Funeral for
Gary BurtonGary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
. Her arrangement of the music for
Federico FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian film director. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century.- Rimini :Federico Fellini was born on January 20, 1920 to...
's
8½8½ is a 1963 film directed by Italian director Federico Fellini. Co-scripted by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi, it stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a famous Italian film director...
appeared on
Hal WillnerHal Willner is an American music producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles .In the 1970s he worked under record producer Joel Dorn...
's
Nino RotaNino Rota was an Italian composer best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini, or Luchino Visconti...
tribute record,
Amarcord Nino Rota. She has also contributed to other Hal Willner projects, including the song "Misterioso" for the tribute to
Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer who, according to The Penguin Guide to Jazz, was "one of the giants of American music"...
entitled "That's the Way I Feel Now", which included
Johnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
as guest musician on tenor saxophone, and the Willner-directed tribute to
Kurt WeillKurt Julian Weill , was a German, and in his later years American, composer active from the 1920s until his death. He was a leading composer for the stage...
, entitled "
Lost in the StarsLost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill is a 1985 tribute album to German-American composer Kurt Weill. It was executive-produced by Hal Willner and John Telfer, and produced by Hal Willner and Paul M...
", where she and her band contributed an arrangement of the title track, with
Phil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
as guest musician on alto saxophone. In the late 1980s, she also performed with
Anton FierAnton Fier, aka "Andy Fisher" , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
's Golden Palominos and played on their 1985 album,
Visions of ExcessVisions of Excess is the second album by the Golden Palominos, which were composed of a largely different line-up than appeared on their first album...
.
Carla Bley has continued to record frequently with her own big band and a number of smaller ensembles. Her partner, the bassist
Steve SwallowSteve Swallow is a jazz bass guitarist and composer born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.One of the leading bassists in jazz, Swallow is noted for collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley...
, has been her closest and most consistent musical associate in recent years. In 1997, a live version of
Escalator over the Hill (re-orchestrated by Jeff Friedman) was performed for the first time in
CologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
; in 1998 "Escalator" toured Europe, and another live performance took place in May 2006 in
EssenEssen is a city in the central part of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Located on the Ruhr River, its population of approximately 579,000 makes it either the 7th- or 8th-largest-city in Germany...
, Germany.
In 2005 she arranged the music for and performed on
Charlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
's latest Liberation Music Orchestra tour and recording,
Not in Our NameNot in Our Name is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 2004 and released by Verve Records in 2005.The album is the fourth by Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the follow-up to 1990's Dream Keeper.-Track listing:...
.
She has worked with Blood, Sweat and Tears notable
Lew SoloffLew Soloff is a jazz trumpeter, composer and actor. He studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. He is likely best known for his work with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1968 to 1973...
from
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, on two CD records.
Albums
- 1971: Escalator over the Hill
Escalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction" with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.-History:The critically acclaimed...
(Carla Bley and Paul Haines)
- 1974: Tropic Appetites (Carla Bley)
- 1975: 3/4
3/4 may refer to:* The Fraction three quarters or 0.75 in decimal* A ¾ Time signature, see triple metre* Three quarter pants* 3/4 perspective in video games* Channel 3/4 output* ¾" videocassette, better known as the U-matic format...
(Carla Bley; one side of album shared with Michael Mantler)
- 1975: Live in '75 (The Jack Bruce Band, released 2003)
- 1977: Dinner Music (Carla Bley)
- 1978: European Tour 1977 (Carla Bley Band)
- 1979: Musique Mecanique (Carla Bley Band)
- 1981: Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports (Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is the drummer for Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1964. He also competes in auto racing events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans...
, recorded 1979)
- 1981: Social Studies (Carla Bley Band)
- 1982: Live! (Carla Bley Band)
- 1983: The Ballad of the Fallen
The Ballad of the Fallen is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 1982 and released in 1983. The album was voted "Jazz album of the year" in Down Beat magazine's 1984 critic's poll...
(Charlie Haden and Carla Bley)
- 1984: I Hate to Sing (Carla Bley Band)
- 1984: Heavy Heart (Carla Bley)
- 1985: Night-Glo (Carla Bley)
- 1987: Sextet (Carla Bley)
- 1988: Duets (Carla Bley and Steve Swallow)
- 1989: Fleur Carnivore (Carla Bley)
- 1991: The Very Big Carla Bley Band (Carla Bley Band)
- 1992: Go Together (Carla Bley and Steve Swallow)
- 1993: Big Band Theory (Carla Bley)
- 1994: Songs with Legs (Carla Bley)
- 1996: ...Goes to Church (Carla Bley Big Band)
- 1998: Fancy Chamber Music (Carla Bley)
- 1999: Are We There Yet? (Carla Bley and Steve Swallow)
- 2000: 4x4 (Carla Bley)
- 2003: Looking for America (Carla Bley Big Band)
- 2004: The Lost Chords (Carla Bley)
- 2007: The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu (Carla Bley)
- 2008: Appearing Nightly (Carla Bley & Her Remarkable Big Band)
Contributions
- 1967: Genuine Tong Funeral (Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
)
- 1969: Liberation Music Orchestra (Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
and the Liberation Music OrchestraLiberation Music Orchestra is a jazz album by Charlie Haden, released in 1969 . It was Haden's first album as leader.The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War...
)
- 1975: Dreams So Real (Gary Burton)
- 1977: Kew. Rhone.
Kew. Rhone. is a concept album by British bass guitarist and composer John Greaves, and American singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Blegvad. It is a song cycle composed by Greaves with lyrics by Blegvad, and was performed by Greaves and Blegvad with vocalist Lisa Herman and others...
(John GreavesJohn Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
and Peter BlegvadPeter Blegvad is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of the avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many solo and collaborative albums...
)
- 1990: Dream Keeper
Dream Keeper is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 1990 and released by Blue Note Records. The album was nominated for a Grammy award and was voted "Jazz album of the year" in Down Beat magazine's 1991 critic's poll...
(with Charlie Haden / Liberation Music Orchestra)
- 2005: Not in Our Name
Not in Our Name is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 2004 and released by Verve Records in 2005.The album is the fourth by Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the follow-up to 1990's Dream Keeper.-Track listing:...
(with Charlie Haden / Liberation Music Orchestra)
- 1983/2003: Live in Montreal (DVD)
External links