ghost of miles Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 (edited) http://www.monastery.nl/bulletin/asexpol/171bley.jpg Carla Bley is renowned today for her big-band writing and its wide-ranging use of musical and emotional elements, but it was small-group recordings of her work in the 1960s by musicians such as Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, George Russell, and her husband Paul Bley that introduced her to the jazz world. In her teens Bley abandoned home, religion, and school, eventually making her way to New York City, where she worked as a hatcheck and cigarette girl in jazz clubs such as Basin Street and Birdland. She also met Paul Bley, a young up-and-coming Canadian jazz pianist she’d end up marrying and moving with to Los Angeles. There the Bleys became a part of the late-1950s avant-jazz scene, highlighted by Paul Bley’s stint with Ornette Coleman’s quartet—and Carla Bley, taking in all of the adventurous sounds that she heard, began to compose, beginning the evolution of a style that one writer would later describe as “ hyper-modern jazz…asymmetrical compositional structures that subvert jazz formula to wonderful effect, with unpredictable melodies that are often as catchy as they are obscure.” “I was lucky,” Bley has said. “People started playing my music as soon as I began to write it. I don’t know why. It just happened.” The Carla Bley Songbook airs this evening at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville. It will also air at 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. For additional broadcast times around the country, see the "Carriage" section on the Night Lights links page. (Not positive, but I think we're debuting tonight on Oklahoma Public Radio.) The Carla Bley Songbook will be posted for online listening by Monday morning in the Night Lights archives. Edited October 20, 2023 by ghost of miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted May 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 Thanks for the thumbs-up, Joe. Forgot to mention that it's partly in honor of Carla's 70th birthday (tomorrow, May 11). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 I'll have to remember to check this out. I know very little of her music outside of the Giuffre records from the 60s and her ECM rarum. Nice picture of her, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Barton Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that she's 70! This looks like a great show, David. I'm planning a somewhat less in-depth salute tonight on Bright Moments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted May 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 (edited) Thanks again for the interest, all. The Carla Bley Songbook is now archived. Edited March 7, 2009 by ghost of miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that she's 70! No shit! What a fox... Always one of my favorite composers in the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Barton Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that she's 70! No shit! What a fox... Always one of my favorite composers in the music. Not to mention having one of the most hilarious websites of all time. I try to visit Karen at least once a month. R.I.P. Arnold the Cat. Edited May 13, 2008 by Bill Barton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hey, just printed out the lead sheet to "Ida Lupino" and will undertake to play it on the trumpet. Thanks for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Barton Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 You're welcome, Lazaro. Watch out for the showers... And I'd be extra careful in the cafeteria too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that she's 70! This looks like a great show, David. I'm planning a somewhat less in-depth salute tonight on Bright Moments. bright gave a most redoutable effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 How about a Weill / Brecht show to discover her roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bill Barton Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 How about a Weill / Brecht show to discover her roots. That's a great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 (edited) Wazz'at Bart? Heard this program on the radio as we drove home from the Police and Elvis Costello concert -- joined right in the middle of a Tony Williams and Lifetime recording. Muhal playing "King Korn" on Barry Altschul's album is a classic. Edited May 15, 2008 by Lazaro Vega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Now listening. Interesting music which I'm pleased to hear for the first time - as so often with Night Lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 We're re-airing The Carla Bley Songbook this week, but it's already archived for online listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Up in memory: The Carla Bley Songbook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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