Paul Bley RIP

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Just now....
R.I.P. Paul Bley

PETER HUM, OTTAWA CITIZEN


Paul Bley, the Montreal-raised pianist and giant of free jazz who famously played with Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, has died at the age of 83, according to the statement below by his daughter:

“Dear Friends,

“I’m deeply saddened to tell you that my father passed yesterday. Below is our official statement. He was at home and very comfortable with family at his side.

“Thank you"

BN.

This was running as an internet hoax but now confirmed as above.

[Serial_Apologist]

A jazz pianist friend once told me that all Keith Jarrett's so-called "innovations" with floating across the beat were in fact Paul Bley's, and he lent me Bley's Turning Point LP with John Gilmore, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian to ram home the point. Hearing that was something of a turning point for me, as I hadn't yet really taken free jazz on board at that time (early 1980s). Of course, the source for that rhythmic freedom was the blues, of which in my opinion Bley was one of the prime exponents.

I have a few Paul Bley recordings but never actually heard him play. In the early 1990s he turned up at the Festival on the Green, held on Stoke Newington Green in the days when the Jazz Cafe was located just around the corner. A tall man, he was instantly recognisable notwithstanding the shades and broad-rimmed hat; yet no one went up to speak to him, despite jazz people who would probably have given their eye teeth to play with him standing a short distance away - and I myself was unable to summon up the nerve, or even whisper, "Hey, isn't that who I think it is?".

I seem to remember Ian writing something on this board that summed up Bley's qualities, positing him as one of the major influences on the development of jazz piano. Annette Peacock, who collaborated with him by writing pieces for his trio in the 1960s, (he in turn said she should put words to them and eventually persuaded her to sing them with him accompanying), reckoned his approach to jazz freedom to have amounted to a separate thread in NY from the Shepps and the Sanderses, and to have influenced the Manfred Eicher aesthetic. Greater than Cecil? or Bill Evans? I wonder if anyone ever asked him.

RIP Paul

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

A jazz pianist friend once told me that all Keith Jarrett's so-called "innovations" with floating across the beat were in fact Paul Bley's, and he lent me Bley's Turning Point LP with John Gilmore, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian to ram home the point. Hearing that was something of a turning point for me, as I hadn't yet really taken free jazz on board at that time (early 1980s). Of course, the source for that rhythmic freedom was the blues, of which in my opinion Bley was one of the prime exponents.

I have a few Paul Bley recordings but never actually heard him play. In the early 1990s he turned up at the Festival on the Green, held on Stoke Newington Green in the days when the Jazz Cafe was located just around the corner. A tall man, he was instantly recognisable notwithstanding the shades and broad-rimmed hat; yet no one went up to speak to him, despite jazz people who would probably have given their eye teeth to play with him standing a short distance away - and I myself was unable to summon up the nerve, or even whisper, "Hey, isn't that who I think it is?".

I seem to remember Ian writing something on this board that summed up Bley's qualities, positing him as one of the major influences on the development of jazz piano. Annette Peacock, who collaborated with him by writing pieces for his trio in the 1960s, (he in turn said she should put words to them and eventually persuaded her to sing them with him accompanying), reckoned his approach to jazz freedom to have amounted to a separate thread in NY from the Shepps and the Sanderses, and to have influenced the Manfred Eicher aesthetic. Greater than Cecil? or Bill Evans? I wonder if anyone ever asked him.

RIP Paul

There's a very funny/caustic interview on the net (Do the Math?) where Paul is asked about Keef Jarrett and responds, " Want to know what he's doing? Whatever I did around ten years or so ago...and not so well".

Cook and Morton think he was playing far more interesting stuff than Bill Evans, particular Evan's mid period and I would tend to agree. My favorite record of his is "Ballads" cut I think in the late sixties and only resurfacing on a very limited Japanese CD reissue. Very very spacey but with a definate underlying form. A great record.

RIP Comrade Bley.

BN.

[PUSB]

There's a very funny/caustic interview on the net (Do the Math?) where Paul is asked about Keef Jarrett and responds, " Want to know what he's doing? Whatever I did around ten years or so ago...and not so well".

Cook and Morton think he was playing far more interesting stuff than Bill Evans, particular Evan's mid period and I would tend to agree. My favorite record of his is "Ballads" cut I think in the late sixties and only resurfacing on a very limited Japanese CD reissue. Very very spacey but with a definate underlying form. A great record.

RIP Comrade Bley.

BN.

Sad news. I think he was one of the greats.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sad news. I think he was one of the greats.

I don't as happens have "Ballads", well-known though it is, so I think I'll put on "My Standard", a trio recording with Jasper Lundgaard and Billy Hart from 1985, which is as says on the tin, except for one (or possibly two) free numbers. Then maybe "Time Will Tell", collectively improvised with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips in 1994, and on ECM.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I don't as happens have "Ballads", well-known though it is, so I think I'll put on "My Standard", a trio recording with Jasper Lundgaard and Billy Hart from 1985, which is as says on the tin, except for one (or possibly two) free numbers. Then maybe "Time Will Tell", collectively improvised with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips in 1994, and on ECM.

Just reading a obit where Pat Metheny said that Bley's solo on the Rollins/Hawk RCA "All the thing you are" completely changed the way he thought about harmony and what was possible. "One of the great jazz solos".

BN.

[charles t]

Very sad news. Paul's 1999 autobio (w David Lee) well worth the search. Vehicule Press, Canada (not a misprint).

[IMG][/IMG]

[Ian Thumwood]

Paul Bley was biggest name amongst those giants of jazz who I was never able to hear perform live. When I was about 17 / 18, I didn't think that jazz piano would ever be improved upon after hearing Bill Evans. This approach seemed the summation of the music to my ears but two pianists opened my ears to other possibilities. Chick Corea's acoustic work made me doubt Evans' supremacy yet it was discovering Paul Bley's music which really pushed the door open for me, not only as far as jazz piano was concerned but also as far as the process of improvisation was concerned. The initial album which staggered me was "Fragments" which featured Bley with John Surman, Bill Frisell and Paul Motian. Although much of the music on this record was almost glacial in tempo, the opening track is a salutary experience in the meaning of swing as you can truly appreciate that this works not only on a rhythmic and harmonic level, but also in a melodic fashion insofar that phrases in the way that an improvised line can follow each other and give the same impression. I eagerly snapped up a number of Paul Bley's discs after this experience and whilst his music is dominated by slow and medium tempo workouts, they all have the effect of being extremely compelling. No other jazz musician swung so hard with such a minimal groove.

I am sure I have praised his solo album "Tears" to the hilt on this board before and I think this is a monumental achievement albeit the material is largely improvised other than a re-working of the 1930's torch song "My old flame" and a 3 minute blues dedicated to the memory of Roy Eldridge that distils the trumpeter's phrasing almost in slow motion. When I hear Bley perform solo piano there is almost a quality of the phrasing being carved out of granite. His touch and use of dynamics render his playing as very distinctive and he seems more interested in the architecture of his solo than painting a harmonic palette.

Some of the points made above are interesting. Pat Metheny's first recording was his Bley and I can see why he appealed to the guitarist. The comparison with Keith Jarrett is not really helpful. Jarrett has cited Bley as his key influence and I think Bley's comment that was quoted above is typical of the mischief making that the older musician loved to become embroiled in when interviewed by journalists. He sometimes comes across as being quite sharp in interviews I have read and certainly more knowing than some journalists. He could be funny but I think his music does the talking much better. In comparison with Jarrett, I feel that Paul Bley is far more economic and you will never find a superficial phrase in his solos as nothing is wasted. Jarrett probably has the greater vision over the longer distance yet, if you could measure musical content in relation to the number of bars played, Bley's ratio would be far more concentrated. The contrast with Bill Evans is also deceiving. I don't think they are at all alike either in harmonic language or their approach. For my money, Evans is sometimes guilty of playing only the middle sixty per cent of his instrument whereas Bley delighted in the cavernous bottom tones as well as the glassier notes in the treble. Evans really comes from a Classical tradition stemming from Chopin and leading to Debussy whereas Bley is far more centred towards the improvisatory process. Paul Bley also worked in a far wider dynamic range and you can sense an almost Ellingtonian power in the way that he attacks the keys. I find Cecil Taylor to have a similar, inquisitive approach although the atonal nature of his playing makes some of his music an awkward listen. Paul Bley more easily fits in to this generation of jazz pianists and works better in my opinion because of how his playing was informed by a sense of ironic lyricism.

For me, pianists are the heroes of jazz. In the pantheon of great jazz pianists, I am torn between those players who have an exquisite sense of harmony like, Lennie Tristano, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock or John Taylor and those whose more rugged style befits the startling originality of jazz. I would put the likes of Earl Hines, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols and Andrew Hill in this category. Paul Bley maybe falls in to this second category although he really transcends his instrument as was one of the greatest improvisers in jazz along with Parker, Rollins and Konitz. I never cease to be amazed by Herbie Hancock and find his improvising jaw-droppingly brilliant and, if I am honest, Paul Bley was of the same ilk and one of my absolute heroes. RIP.

[Ian Thumwood]

[Tenor Freak]

Just heard about this, I have to join in the tributes. We lost a master yesterday.

For me the turning point was the ECM LP Fragments, but I do hope that some of his work with the likes of Jimmy Giuffre or Lee Konitz can be played on JRR in tribute. There was that brilliant version of All The Things You Are from the Jazz Cafe with the Giuffre trio that I remember being played on Impressions years ago. It made an impression on me anyway - Bley seemed to be able to suspend time so a moment seemed to linger.

This is excellent:

https://youtu.be/bO8SET56s0Y

[Tenor Freak]

and this too:

https://youtu.be/w3xaFqyKSpo

Alyn, could we have All The Things You Are from "Sonny Meets Hawk" on JRR? <thanks>

[Jazzrook]

Very sad news. Rarely heard on JRR despite a recording career of around 60 years. Perhaps we could now have a proper tribute to him? I'd suggest his solo piece 'Harlem' from Open, to Love'(ECM). It's a pity that his finest albums are so hard to find.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2fp4QsZly0

RIP Mr Joy

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

France Musique rejigged all their evening programs yesterday (Tues) to run an extended career playlist and full music tribute to Paul Bley. From his Bird airshots to date. A really excellent retrospective. I didn't realise how respected he was here. "A poet of silence".

Its still available on their website at France Musique Open Jazz. I expect R3's will follow soon. No doubt. Doubtless.

BN.

[Alyn_Shipton]

I gather the first Jazz on 3 in Feb will be a Bley tribute. And if Boardees email the JRR address with requests that'd help. Bruce that All the Things is 9.34, so v definitely on the long side... I liked Paul. He appeared in my 2000 series on Ornette (great interview done in the roof garden of the Gramercy Park Hotel) and I was lucky enough to hear him doing an evening of duos with Charlie Haden at the Kaplan Penthouse at Juilliard. I was sitting next to Andrew Hill, who was doing the next concert in the series, and I asked if he'd learned anything about how to work in that room with its very resonant glass wall (with a fantastic view of the Hudson). Andrew looked at me, looked across at the immaculately turned out - if not a shade dandy-ish - Paul Bley and said, "Yes, I've learned I need to go out and buy a new tux..."
Last interviewed Paul about his "Solo in Mondsee" album from 2007 on ECM. Worth checking out...

[Serial_Apologist]

I gather the first Jazz on 3 in Feb will be a Bley tribute. And if Boardees email the JRR address with requests that'd help. Bruce that All the Things is 9.34, so v definitely on the long side... I liked Paul. He appeared in my 2000 series on Ornette (great interview done in the roof garden of the Gramercy Park Hotel) and I was lucky enough to hear him doing an evening of duos with Charlie Haden at the Kaplan Penthouse at Juilliard. I was sitting next to Andrew Hill, who was doing the next concert in the series, and I asked if he'd learned anything about how to work in that room with its very resonant glass wall (with a fantastic view of the Hudson). Andrew looked at me, looked across at the immaculately turned out - if not a shade dandy-ish - Paul Bley and said, "Yes, I've learned I need to go out and buy a new tux..."
Last interviewed Paul about his "Solo in Mondsee" album from 2007 on ECM. Worth checking out...

Thanks Alyn.

If JR's suggestion of that "All the Things" recording comes up in the suggestions, might it be possible to make an exception of whatever the length of track rule is? I remember "Tout de Suite" from "Filles de Kilimanjaro" being played in its entirety once on JRR, though admittedly it was a long time ago. I have the "Live in Japan" recording of 1963, also with Bley in Rollins's band, and the trouble there is length of playing time, and they are even longer.