
Rate it!
Avg: 4.5 (23 ratings)
- Date Released: December 12, 1965
- Genre: Jazz
- Style: Avant-garde
- Label: ESP'Disk
An infusion of romantic melodicism into the free jazz idiom.
-
We Say...
Paul Bley took Bill Evans' romantic melodicism and delicate touch with voicings and brought them gracefully into free jazz. His playing can be chaotic, but it's tempered by his thoughtful, deliberate phrasing and use of space. That same thoughtfulness makes Bley a succinct improviser: only three tunes on this disc last for more than three minutes. Eight songs were composed by Bley's wife at the time, Carla Bley, and there's one composition each from Annette Peacock (who would become Bley's second wife) and Ornette Coleman. Joining Bley are Barry Altschul, who would go on to play in the free-jazz supergroup Circle, and bassist Steve Swallow, who would go on to marry Carla Bley. (Oh, the incestuousness of it all!) The trio is at its best on the wistful, almost folky "Ida Lupino," a performance that makes Jarrett's enormous debt to Bley obvious, and on the freewheeling Coleman tune "Crossroads," with a wonderful percussive bass solo from Swallow.
-
They Say...
The second ESP issue from the Paul Bley Trio is a contrast as dramatic as rain against sunshine. The earlier album, Barrage, recorded in October of 1964, was full of harsh, diffident extrapolations of sound and fury, perhaps because of its sidemen; Marshall Allen and Dewey Johnson on saxophone and trumpet, respectively, were on loan from Sun Ra and joined Eddie Gomez and Milford Graves. Indeed, the music there felt like one long struggle to survive. On this date, recorded over a year later and released in 1966, Bley's sidemen are two more like-minded experimentalists, drummer Barry Altschul and bassist Steve Swallow. The program of tunes here is also more even-handed and characteristically lush: the entire first side and two on the second were written by Carla Bley (including the gorgeous "Ida Lupino") for a total of seven, and there is one each by pianists Annette Peacock and Ornette Coleman. Bley and his trio understand that with compositions of this nature, full of space and an inherent, interior-pointing lyricism, that pace is everything. And while this set clocks in at just over 29 minutes in length, the playing is so genuine and moving that it doesn't need to be any longer. The interplay between these three (long before Swallow switched to electric bass exclusively) is startling in how tightly woven they are melodically and harmonically. There isn't a sense that one player -- other than the volume of Mr. Bley's piano in this crappy mix -- stands out from the other two; they are of a piece traveling down this opaque yet warm road together. Bley may never have been as flashy as Cecil Taylor, but he is every bit the innovator.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 10 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 10 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. | ![]() |
Ida Lupino |
2:56 |
|
| 02. | ![]() |
Start |
2:22 |
|
| 03. | ![]() |
Closer |
3:28 |
|
| 04. | ![]() |
Sideways In Mexico |
2:56 |
|
| 05. | ![]() |
Batterie |
3:18 |
|
| 06. | ![]() |
And Now The Queen |
2:18 |
|
| 07. | ![]() |
Pigfoot |
3:24 |
|
| 08. | ![]() |
Crossroads |
2:31 |
|
| 09. | ![]() |
Violin |
2:56 |
|
| 10. | ![]() |
Cartoon |
2:17 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 28:26 Total Length
Loading...

![]()
Playlists If you like Paul Bley Trio, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Paul Bley Trio fans
Credits
- Barry Altschul - Percussion // Barry Altschul - Drums // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Piano // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Producer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Performer // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Paul Bley - Audio Production // Steve Swallow - Bass // Richard Alderson - Engineer // Richard Alderson - Audio Engineer // Jay Dillon - Art Direction // Paul Bley Trio - Performer // Bernard Stollman - Author // Frans de Rond - Remastering // Douglas McGregor - Remastering // Douglas McGregor - Digital Remastering // Miles Bachman - Design // Miles Bachman - Layout Design
-
Other Details
- Instrument:
- Piano
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.


Post Album to Facebook
