egroj world: Paul Bley • The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet

Monday, June 10, 2024

Paul Bley • The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet

 


"Since the Montreal-born, long-US resident Bley's 50's debut with Mingus and Blakey, he's worked with more first-rate, wide ranging original musical minds than anyone but Miles..." —Howard Mandel, Downbeat, April 1995

Bley gave violin recitals at age five. By age seven he was studying piano. He went through numerous classical teachers—including one Frenchman that had him play, balancing filled water glasses on the tops of his hands. At age 11 he graduated from the McGill Conservatory—having taken on their musical curriculum in addition to his public school education. Bley, who was known as "Buzzy" in his early adolescence, formed a band and played clubs and summer hotel jobs in the Laurentian Mountains at age 13. Four years later he replaced Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge. Bley founded the Montreal Jazz Workshop and brought Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Brew Moore and Alan Eager to Montreal inorder to perform with them.

In 1950 Bley left for New York City. He studied at the Julliard School of Music from 1950-54. While at Julliard, Bley had a band with Jackie MacLean, Donald Byrd, Arthur Taylor, Doug Watkins. In this period he toured with Lester Young, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge and Bill Harris. He was a frequent visitor at the famed Saturday night sessions at Lenny Tristano's studio. Bley served as president of the Associated Jazz Societies of New York in 1952, which led to Charlie Mingus hiring Bley to conduct his ensemble. Mingus also recorded Bley's debut album, along with himself and Art Blakey, on his label, Debut Records.

In 1957, Bley went to California where his bands included: Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgens, Bobby Hutchinson, Scotty LaFaro, Lawrence Marable, and Dave Pike. In 1959 Bley returned to New York, where he played with Roland Kirk, Oliver Nelson, and Jimmy Giuffre at the Five Spot Cafe. This group evolved into the Jimmy Giuffre 3, including Bley and Steve Swallow, which brought Bley to Europe for the first time in 1961. They recorded for Verve and CBS.

In 1963 Bley and Herbie Hancock were invited to play with the bands of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, who were performing on a double bill on a Monday night at Birdland. Both pianists were offered both jobs. Hancock gave Bley first choice. Bley chose to join the Rollins quartet for a year to record and go to tour Japan. Bley's own trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian of the 1960's became the standard by which other trios would be measured.

In 1964, Bill Dixon invited Bley to become a member of the Jazz Composer's Guild, which included: Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Carla Bley, Mike Mantle, Cecil Taylor, and Burton Greene. By 1968 Bley was working with audio synthesis. He gave the first live performance to date on synthesizer at Philarmonic Hall in New York City. He released several synthesizer albums recorded on the original Arp 2500.

In 1972, Bley made his first solo piano recording for ECM records. In 1973 Bley met video artist, Carol Goss, and together they created Improvising Artists (IAI). In 1978 a Billboard Magazine cover story credited IAI for creating the first "music video", as a result of the recorded and live performance collaborations it produced between jazz musicians and video artists.

Bley continued his work with electric quartets. In 1974, IAI brought Jaco Pastorious to New York for his debut recording. Mysteriously, these sessions, produced Pat Metheney's debut recording as well. Though Metheney had never been hired to play with the band, he sat in at a gig prior to the recording date and then stayed with Bley's quartet, which also included drummer, Bruce Ditmas.

Bley has released close to 100 CD's. Some of the artists he's recorded with include: Ben Webster, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, Chet Baker, Bill Connors, Steve Swallow, Gary Peacock, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Red Mitchell, Marc Johnson, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, Arild Andersen, Kent Carter, Barre Phillips, Paul Motian, Barry Altschul, Han Benninck, Billy Hart, Tony Oxley, Bruce Ditmas, Cecil McBee, Gary Burton, Marion Brown, Jane Bunnet, Hans Koch, John Surman, John Gilmore, Evan Parker, Lee Konitz, Sam Rivers, Herbie Spanier, and Bill Evans.

In 1994 Bley received 5 stars from Downbeat for a solo synthesizer album recorded for Postcards Records and toured with Giuffre and Swallow. Bley tour Europe, Japan and North America as a solist and with duos and trios.

In 1998 the American Physical Society contacted Bley and asked if they could publish his photo in the Century of Physics Time Line Wall Char and Web Site. They said that he is the only musician to be included with a century of Noble Prize winners in physics because of his innovations in adapting the audio synthesizer for the first live performance, which Bley gave at Philarmonic Hall on December 26, 1969. The 22 foot APS Time Line wall chart will be printed and distributed to every physics classroom in the USA and will appear on the internet at the end of March 1999. The American Physical Society's website for the Time Line.

An exhaustive discography, over 220 pages long, of Bleys released and unreleased recordings is available from Henk Gluck.

In 1998 a one hour long biographical television program was made for BRAVO! and ARTE and an autobiographical book, entitled STOPPING TIME: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz, was published in the autumn of 1999 by Vehicule Press.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/paul-bley/

///////

«Desde que Bley, nacido en Montreal y residente en EE.UU. desde hace mucho tiempo, debutó en los años 50 con Mingus y Blakey, ha trabajado con más mentes musicales originales de primer orden y amplio espectro que nadie excepto Miles...» -Howard Mandel, Downbeat, abril de 1995

Bley dio recitales de violín a los cinco años. A los siete ya estudiaba piano. Pasó por numerosos profesores de música clásica, entre ellos un francés que le hacía tocar equilibrando vasos de agua llenos en la parte superior de las manos. A los 11 años se graduó en el Conservatorio McGill, donde había cursado estudios musicales además de los de la escuela pública. Bley, conocido como «Buzzy» en su adolescencia temprana, formó una banda y tocó en clubes y hoteles de verano en las montañas Laurentian a los 13 años. Cuatro años más tarde sustituyó a Oscar Peterson en el Alberta Lounge. Bley fundó el Montreal Jazz Workshop y llevó a Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Brew Moore y Alan Eager a Montreal para que actuaran con ellos.

En 1950, Bley se marchó a Nueva York. Estudió en la Julliard School of Music entre 1950 y 1954. Durante su estancia en Julliard, Bley formó grupo con Jackie MacLean, Donald Byrd, Arthur Taylor y Doug Watkins. En este periodo realizó giras con Lester Young, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge y Bill Harris. Acudía con frecuencia a las famosas sesiones de los sábados por la noche en el estudio de Lenny Tristano. Bley fue presidente de la Associated Jazz Societies de Nueva York en 1952, lo que llevó a Charlie Mingus a contratar a Bley para dirigir su conjunto. Mingus también grabó el álbum debut de Bley, junto con él mismo y Art Blakey, en su sello, Debut Records.

En 1957, Bley se marchó a California, donde sus grupos incluían a: Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgens, Bobby Hutchinson, Scotty LaFaro, Lawrence Marable y Dave Pike. En 1959 Bley regresó a Nueva York, donde tocó con Roland Kirk, Oliver Nelson y Jimmy Giuffre en el Five Spot Cafe. Este grupo evolucionó hasta convertirse en Jimmy Giuffre 3, que incluía a Bley y Steve Swallow, y que llevó a Bley a Europa por primera vez en 1961. Grabaron para Verve y CBS.

En 1963, Bley y Herbie Hancock fueron invitados a tocar con las bandas de Miles Davis y Sonny Rollins, que actuaban en un programa doble un lunes por la noche en Birdland. A ambos pianistas les ofrecieron los dos trabajos. Hancock dio a Bley la primera opción. Bley eligió unirse al cuarteto de Rollins durante un año para grabar e ir de gira por Japón. El propio trío de Bley con Gary Peacock y Paul Motian de la década de 1960 se convirtió en el estándar por el que se medirían otros tríos.

En 1964, Bill Dixon invitó a Bley a formar parte del Jazz Composer's Guild, del que formaban parte: Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, John Tchicai, Roswell Rudd, Carla Bley, Mike Mantle, Cecil Taylor y Burton Greene. En 1968, Bley ya trabajaba con síntesis de audio. Realizó la primera actuación en directo con sintetizador hasta la fecha en el Philarmonic Hall de Nueva York. Publicó varios álbumes de sintetizadores grabados con el Arp 2500 original.

En 1972, Bley realizó su primera grabación de piano solo para ECM records. En 1973, Bley conoció a la videoartista Carol Goss y juntos crearon Improvising Artists (IAI). En 1978, una portada de la revista Billboard atribuyó a IAI la creación del primer «vídeo musical», como resultado de las colaboraciones grabadas y en directo que produjo entre músicos de jazz y videoartistas.

Bley continuó su trabajo con cuartetos eléctricos. En 1974, el IAI llevó a Jaco Pastorious a Nueva York para su primera grabación. Misteriosamente, estas sesiones produjeron también la grabación de debut de Pat Metheney. Aunque Metheney nunca había sido contratado para tocar con la banda, se sentó en un concierto antes de la fecha de grabación y luego se quedó con el cuarteto de Bley, que también incluía al batería Bruce Ditmas.

Bley ha publicado cerca de 100 CD. Algunos de los artistas con los que ha grabado son: Ben Webster, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, Chet Baker, Bill Connors, Steve Swallow, Gary Peacock, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Red Mitchell, Marc Johnson, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, Arild Andersen, Kent Carter, Barre Phillips, Paul Motian, Barry Altschul, Han Benninck, Billy Hart, Tony Oxley, Bruce Ditmas, Cecil McBee, Gary Burton, Marion Brown, Jane Bunnet, Hans Koch, John Surman, John Gilmore, Evan Parker, Lee Konitz, Sam Rivers, Herbie Spanier y Bill Evans.

En 1994 Bley recibió 5 estrellas de Downbeat por un álbum en solitario con sintetizador grabado para Postcards Records y realizó una gira con Giuffre y Swallow. Bley realiza giras por Europa, Japón y Norteamérica como solista y con dúos y tríos.


En 1998, la American Physical Society se puso en contacto con Bley y le preguntó si podían publicar su foto en el Century of Physics Time Line Wall Char y en la página web. Dijeron que era el único músico incluido en un siglo de premios Nobel de Física por sus innovaciones en la adaptación del sintetizador de audio para la primera actuación en directo, que Bley ofreció en el Philarmonic Hall el 26 de diciembre de 1969. El gráfico mural de 22 pies de la Línea del Tiempo de la APS se imprimirá y distribuirá a todas las aulas de física de EE.UU. y aparecerá en Internet a finales de marzo de 1999. Página web de la American Physical Society para la Línea del Tiempo.

Henk Gluck ofrece una discografía exhaustiva, de más de 220 páginas, de grabaciones publicadas e inéditas de Bleys.

En 1998 se realizó un programa de televisión biográfico de una hora de duración para BRAVO! y ARTE y un libro autobiográfico, titulado STOPPING TIME: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz, fue publicado en otoño de 1999 por Vehicule Press.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/paul-bley/


www.improvart.com/bley ...


Tracks:
1 - Klactoveesedstene
Written-By – Charlie Parker 12:07
2 - I Remember Harlem
Written-By – Roy Eldridge 3:52
3 - The Blessing
Written-By – Ornette Coleman 9:38
4 - Free
Written-By – Ornette Coleman 5:39


Credits:
    Alto Saxophone [Alto-Sax] – Ornette Coleman
    Bass – Charlie Haden
    Drums – Billy Higgins
    Liner Notes [English] – Laurent Goddet
    Photography By [Photos] – Philippe Gras
    Piano – Paul Bley
    Trumpet – Don Cherry

Hillcrest Club, Los Angeles 1958

Label:    Musidisc – 500542
Country:    France
Released:    1993
Genre:    Jazz
Style:    Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz





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6 comments:

  1. thank you for this upload

    file is corrupted

    please reupload

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  2. thanks but although the link works, the file on it is incomplete, so only first 2 tracks and a bit of track 3 there. A shame because this looks really interesting!

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  3. thanks, it is a fantastic recording and I didn't know it existed.

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