Carla Bley (b 1936)

Donald Macleod and guest, Kevin Le Gendre follow the jazz
adventures of Carla Bley


One of the most original voices in jazz, composer, arranger,
performer and band-leader Carla Bley has been determinedly
pursuing her own musical path for more than sixty years. Her back
catalogue of some fifty plus recordings tell the story of a
musician who's responded in her own unique style to all the
current trends, from free and experimental jazz in the 60s and
70s to 80s soul, blues and R&B. In later decades, she's
written for and created big bands recalling the musical
landscapes of Count Basie and the Duke and in the last 20 years,
she's refined a distilled, intimate style for smaller chamber
ensembles, in particular performing in a Trio with her life
partner, bassist Steve Swallow and the British saxophonist Andy
Sheppard. Little wonder then, her fellow musicians affectionately
call Bley 'Countess Bleysie' and 'Bleythoven'. Featuring a
selection of recordings suggested by Carla Bley, Donald Macleod
and Kevin Le Gendre follow Bley's musical adventuring from her
early days writing for Paul Bley and Gary Burton, to her latest
album for the Carla Bley Trio, released in 2020.


Music Featured:


King Korn Carla Bley/Paul Bley: Ictus Donkey Ida Lupino Escalator
Over the Hill (Hotel Overture; Why; Little pony soldier) Walking
Batterie Woman Dreams so Real Blunt Object Silent Spring
Reactionary Tango in 3 parts Song sung Long Útviklingssang
Walking Batteriewoman (vers. for piano and bass) Wildlife (Horns;
Paws without Claws; Sex with Birds) The Girl Who Cried Champagne
Lawns The Girl Who Cried Champagne ( Part 1) Fleur Carnivore
Strange Arrangement Who Will Rescue You? On The Stage In Cages
Doctor Wrong Key Donkey And then one Day Vashkar Wildlife


Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC
Cymru Wales


For full track listings, including artist and recording details,
and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after
broadcast) head to the series page for Carla Bley (b 1936)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011lmc


And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve
featured on Composer of the Week here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z