Paul Bley

Pianist Paul Bley took the styles and techniques associated with Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Bill Evans
to new levels of creative experimentation, becoming an indispensable force in modern music by combining
the best elements in bop and early modern jazz with extended free improvisation and procedural dynamics
often found in 20th-century chamber music. This approach places him in league with such diverse artists as
Red Garland, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard, Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, and Marilyn Crispell. Even a cursory overview of
Bley's life and work can be pleasantly overwhelming, for he is among the most heavily recorded of all jazz
pianists and his story is inextricably intertwined with the evolution of modern jazz during the second half of
the 20th century. His three dates with Jimmy Giuffre's trio, most notably 1961's Free Fall, were landmark
studies in vanguard modalism. With Barrage from...

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Paul Bley Albums

2 records