Simon8

Oh, nobody ever said that Bley's career needed BN "validation". My original, plain and simple curiosity was just to see "how his impact/image would've been if, say, his 60's output had been made under one label" (instead of multiple, sometimes "confidential" labels), Blue Note being one of the evident major labels at the time. It could have been Riverside, or Columbia or or or... (for purely egotistical reasons, it would have given me access to remastered versions of Footloose! and Ramblin' , and just plain access to Blood [Fontana] and Mr. Joy [Limelight] On a unrelated note, always liked that picture of Bley in discussion Bill Evans and Ron Carter. Caption suggestions?

At almost the very same time, Bley was recording Footloose! (with then Blue Note "regular" La Roca) and Turning Point (with Gilmore), while over on Blue Note Andrew Hill was recording Black Fire and Andrew!!! (with Gilmore). It think Footloose! in particular would've made for a stone cold Blue Note classic (no problem being it a stone cold Savoy classic, mind you). Would've been mighty fun to hear Bley with Jackie McLean and Woody Shaw... (and Joe Henderson & Billy Higgins, while we're at it) !

Bley never fails to surprise/entertain/move/thrill me. Useless to rewrite history of course, but I'd be curious to see how his impact/image would've been if, say, his 60's output had been made under one label ("Paul Bley, a Blue Note artist!")

Certainly one of my favorites as well. First album that came to mind, strangely, is his sole (I think?) collaboration with Andrew Hill, Dance With Death, where he's the key player for me, making light out of Hill's darker leanings. And you gotta love his picture in the booklet, where he manages to rock a turtleneck, a leather jacket and a funky hat:

(Hearing Julian Priester solo on "Noon Tide" after listening to early Sun Ra yesterday, I was reminded of the Hill-Arkestra "connections" - Chicago, John Gilmore, Victor Sproles, Priester...and Pat Patrick (below) : passing [space]ships!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax-gi9wvUdo

Spurred on by the Doug Watkins thread.