With Paul's encouragement, Carla began writing pieces for his Quintet, including a tune that would become her first recording, "One Plus One." Listen to Paul Bley recall how he first met Carla at BirdlandĪfter hooking up with Paul Bley, Carla relocated to Los Angeles with him, where his group had a steady gig at the Hillcrest Club, and she tried her hand at composing for the first time. Listen to Carla describe the lure of jazzĪs a young woman, Carla moved to New York City to be closer to the source of bebop, and received the remainder of her jazz education as a cigarette girl at the notorious Birdland Jazz Club where she met her first husband, pianist Paul Bley (left).
During her adolescence, while staying the course scripted by her family's religious beliefs, she was drawn towards the "rebellious" reputation of jazz music, sneaking into clubs in the Bay Area to soak up the scene. Born and raised in Oakland, California in a fundamentalist Christian household, Carla began playing piano at age 3, encouraged by her musically gifted parents.Ĭarla's musical education consisted of equal parts classical and church. Listen to writer Bob Blumenthal, singer and bassist Jack Bruce, and trombonist Gary Valente talk about Carla Bley' musicįor a jazz composer, Carla's background is as atypical and idiosyncratic as her music. Over the course of her 40 year career, she helped to change the role of the big band in jazz. Although she's known as the "Queen of the Avant-garde," pianist and composer Carla Bley never sacrifices swing, creating music that is at once challenging and melodious.
0 kommentar(er)
