Paul Bley

[Susan Alcorn (deceased)]

The great pianist Paul Bley has died. He had played with everyone from Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Albert Ayler (!), and he was one of the very few, perhaps only, pianists to work with and record with Ornette Coleman whose music did not sit easily with a piano.

He once told me to get rid of the Real Book, never play other people's music or ideas (after I had recorded his "Ida Lupino"), and to play country music out of tune. This sage advice that I have not always been able to follow is something I gratefully carry with me today.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/j ... -visionary

Here is a trio recording, with Steve Swallow and Barry Altschul, of Carla Bley's "Ida Lupino":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYnrtXiA0TA

[Mike Neer]

Susan, you and I have talked about Paul a few times. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever listened to and I aspire to find the freedom in my music that he had.

Thankfully, there are many, many recordings to listen to. One of my favorites is Open, To Love, where he plays a stunning version of Ida Lupino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX3qBHKq2YU

His first recording as a leader featured Charles Mingus and Art Blakey. How about that for a trio!

He even recorded Jaco Pastorius for his own label--it was Jaco's debut recording, with Pat Metheny on guitar and Bruce Ditmas on drums. Nothing like you would expect it to sound. Here Paul played electric piano on this tune by Carla Bley, the first cut on Jaco's record:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DALsubuCcJ8

Paul was also the first musician to get a hold of a Moog synthesizer, whose prototype he charmed out of the hands of Bob Moog, and later risked his life trying to save in a fire.

RIP, Mr. Bley. You will never be forgotten.

[John Alexander]

I got hooked on Paul Bley when I was 15 (in 1966), after buying a copy of the Paul Bley Quintet recording on ESP Disk. Over the subsequent decades, as more of his recordings became accessible to me, I bought many more of his LP's and CD's searching for the quintessential Bley recording - which I never found, partly because Bley himself kept evolving.

Aside from his playing, Bley had many insightful things to say about music. Many treasures can be found in his autobiography, Stopping Time, and Norman Meehan's interview-based Time Will Tell.

[Charlie McDonald]

Thanks for the tip, John, on his book (Stopping Time).
His influence might be inferred from the prices it's going for currently, upwards of a hundred dollars if you can find it.

I enjoyed the recordings of Ida Lupino and Jaco; I'll be looking for more.

[John Alexander]

I think Stopping Time has been out of print for a while. I feel very fortunate to have lucked onto a copy at City Lights Books in San Francisco some years ago. The other book I mentioned, Time Will Tell, may be easier to find, and in some ways it is more interesting because the author gets Bley to talk extensively about his ideas about music.

I found an interesting and lengthy interview (audio, not transcript) of Bley by Chris Comer at this web site:

http://www.chriscomerradio.com/paul_ble ... -11-00.htm

One of my favorite albums is the recording with Gary Peacock that he made privately in 1963 and later sold to ECM. It lack the clarity of ECM recording, but catches the essence of his early 60's style. Here's a link to a track from that recording, that gives an idea of how he was handling jazz standards in his own way, slipping outside and back inside in in his solo lines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIFLkLFPZw

[Susan Alcorn (deceased)]

As a side note, Stopping Time is available on Kindle for, I think, less than ten dollars.

[Charlie McDonald]

I saw that. I like a book, but it may force me to Kindle.
I'm reading memoirs these days, and his sounds like a good one.

[John Alexander]

Nice to know that it is still available on Kindle - thanks.

[Mike Neer]

Stopping Time is a great read. I have the Kindle version. I also picked up Time Will Tell a few days ago for an exorbitant amount. Another good read is Paul Bley: The Logic of Chance by Arrigo Cappelletti, which is more of an analysis of his music.