Carla Bley was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she was perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill, as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, Robert Wyatt, John Scofield, and her ex-husband Paul Bley. She was a pioneer in the development of independent artist-owned record labels, and recorded over two dozen albums between 1966 and 2019.
Michael Mantler is an Austrian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music.
Escalator over the Hill is mostly referred to as a jazz opera, but it was released as a "chronotransduction", with "words by Paul Haines, adaptation and music by Carla Bley, production and coordination by Michael Mantler", performed by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra.
Gershwin's World is a studio album by the American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock.
Dhafer Youssef is a Tunisian composer, singer and oud player.
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic. The band did not wish to break up after the production ended, so its director, Michael Nyman, began composing music for the group to perform, beginning with "In Re Don Giovanni", written in 1977. Originally made up of old instruments such as rebecs, sackbuts and shawms alongside more modern instruments like the banjo and saxophone to produce as loud a sound as possible without amplification, it later switched to a fully amplified line-up of string quartet, double bass, clarinet, three saxophones, horn, trumpet, bass trombone, bass guitar, and piano. This lineup has been variously altered and augmented for some works.
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is a 1968 album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with Michael Mantler as composer, leader and producer. Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd, and Carla Bley. The album's finale features a two-part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra.
In Europe is a live album by Jack DeJohnette and New Directions recorded in June 1979 and released on ECM September the following year. The quartet features trumpeter Lester Bowie, guitarist John Abercrombie, and bassist Eddie Gómez.
Tropic Appetites is a jazz album by Carla Bley released in 1974, following her debut Escalator over the Hill. The lyrics are contributed by Bley's friend Paul Haines, based on his journeys to Southeast Asia in the preceding years. Unlike on the orchestral Escalator, the band is an octet, with Julie Tippetts as lead vocalist.
The Summit format is used in jazz to bring together performers on a particular musical instrument. Though these recordings often feature other musicians, the main instrument is focused upon in a celebratory way.
Heavy Heart is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley, recorded in 1983 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1984.
Fleur Carnivore is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded at the Jazzhus Montmartre in 1988 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1989.
The Very Big Carla Bley Band is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley released on the Watt/ECM label in 1991.
Big Band Theory is an album by the American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley, recorded and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1993.
The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in Perugia, Italy as part of the Umbria Jazz Festival and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1996.
4 x 4 is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley with a chamber ensemble recorded in Oslo in 1999 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2000.
Looking for America is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in 2002 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2003.
Appearing Nightly is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley, recorded in Paris in 2006 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2008. Bley's compositions and arrangements incorporate many references to big bands and jazz standards from the swing era. The album contains two compositions commissioned by the Jazz Orchestra of Sardinia, and a suite inspired by nightclubs and big bands of the 1950s commissioned for the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Wolfgang Puschnig is an Austrian jazz musician and composer.
All Roads Are Made of the Flesh is a live album by Kip Hanrahan released in March 1995, featuring guests including Jack Bruce, Don Pullen, and Andy Gonzalez. It features tracks recorded live in Nijmegen, Copenhagen, Baden-Baden and New York. "Buddy Boldens Blues" was written by Jelly Roll Morton.
