They do not exclusively play new material but also some old favorites like the ballad ”Utviklingssang” and the oriental sounding “Vashkar”. It is a song in the tradition from Charles Mingus’ ”Fables of Faubus” where a politician is ridiculed by the use of mock-pompous musical motives. It was supposedly something president Donald Trump said the first time he entered the oval office in the White House. Sometimes it makes me think of French 20th century composer Erik Satie who also walked this kind of tightrope as a composer.īley can also be cunning or even write satires, as the other new piece called ”Beautiful Telephones” shows. At the same time the music has a high level of sophistication. Sheppard sounds passionate, Swallow thoughtful, and Bley herself restrained.īley is not afraid to write sentimental or simple themes which gives her music a sensibility found in romantic composers like Frederic Chopin or in some popular music. They are often hauntingly beautiful, and this trio handles them with care varying who plays the lead between them to change the character of the music. There she takes her time to develop different themes and emotions. Bley have written and recorded several small suites like ”Wildlife” and ”Andando El Tiempo”. There is a new small suite in four parts called ”Life Goes On”. They play a lot of new material which have not been recorded yet. It is even captivating to hear just two of them play, and Bley and Swallow also has recorded as a duo some decades ago. Once she wrote music for big bands and larger small groups, but for some time now she has been touring and recording with this trio.Īs she is one of the major jazz composers, the format does not lessen her music. They play all songs by Carla Bley, with just one exception. Swallow is now sitting down when he plays his electric bass, but the music is just as beautiful as it always has been. I have heard this band live three times the last six years, but now it was some years since. The Carla Bley Trio with Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard. Bley, Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard enters the stage clothed in all black looking something like graying secret agents, especially when Sheppard puts on his sunglasses, and Bley sits down at the piano tilting her head so that her characteristic bob haircut falls forward like a drape before her face. The procedure whenever the Carla Bley trio play a concert looks very much the same. Recorded at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California on August 19–21, 1981 (tracks 1-4) and at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, New York on January 11–13, 1983 (tracks 5-7).The Carla Bley Trio with Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard tours with new material by Bley and an original Monk arrangement. Dissonant voices collide with dissonant chords on track one, anchored by Steve Swallow's distinctive electric bass on "The Internationale." This one is perhaps even more madcap than usual because of the confluence of flat, non-singing singers balanced with a sort of Germanic romanticism that in places would have brought a smile to Kurt Weill". Certain band members, including the boss, take turns letting the listener know in no uncertain terms why they are instrumentalists and not singers. The JazzTimes review by Willard Jenkins said "There's a comic, antic quality afoot here-and isn't that what one expects from Bley in regular doses? The dose is over the top here, particularly on the title track. The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 2 stars. Fans of the Carla Bley Band will appreciate the group's jovial performance and loose, swinging style, but this is little more than a novelty album". The Allmusic review by Stacia Proefrock awarded the album 2½ stars and stated "here the airy, goofy tone seems to be the only thing holding the album together. I Hate to Sing is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded at the Great American Music Hall in 1981 (at the same concerts that produced Live!) combined with three tracks recorded at Grog Kill Studios in 1983 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1984.
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