Carla Bley, an influential jazz composer, pianist and arranger for more than 60 years, died Tuesday. She was 87.
Bley died at her home in Willow, New York, The New York Times reported. Her longtime partner, bassist Steve Swallow, told the newspaper that the cause of death was complications of brain cancer.
Bley led bands of jazz musicians, including Swallow, Andy Sheppard, Larry Willis and Hiram Bullock, Variety reported.
Carla Bley, an irrepressibly original composer, arranger and pianist responsible for more than 60 years of wily provocations in and around jazz, died on Tuesday. She was 87. https://t.co/yfJw9AuzN5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 17, 2023
Bley was the original conductor and arranger of the Liberation Music Orchestra, according to the entertainment news website.
As a composer, Bley wrote jazz standards like “Ida Lupino” and “Lawns,” the Times reported. Other pieces included “Fleur Carnivore” and a jazz-rock opera that was her signature work, “Escalator Over the Hill.”
We are very saddened to learn of the death of Carla Bley, a hugely important figure of the 1960s free jazz movement. Composer, pianist, organist and bandleader, Carla collaborated with Jack on various projects including her jazz opera ‘Escalator over the Hill’ as well as playing… pic.twitter.com/dDdGCl2hSm
— Jack Bruce (@jackbrucemusic) October 17, 2023
A three-album set, “Escalator Over the Hill” was named album of the year by Melody Maker in 1973, the Times reported. Her ensemble included singer Linda Ronstadt, Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Paul Jones of Manfred Mann, according to The Guardian.
Bley was recognized as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2015, but was stunned by the honor.
“When I first toured Europe with my own band, the audience threw things at me — and I mean fruit mostly, but bottles too,” Bley said in 2016. “I loved it. Nobody else got fruit thrown at them. That’s so wonderful! Anything that happened that was out of the ordinary, I appreciated.”
RIP Carla Bley. One of a kind. https://t.co/EeypSdLWTG pic.twitter.com/43VrgBS2Mw
— Shelley (@shelley_rohar) October 17, 2023
Bley founded several record labels, including Watt and JCOA Records, Variety reported. She also established New Music Distribution Service, a nonprofit that connected her labels to a wider audience.
Born Lovella May Borg in Oakland, California on May 11, 1936, Bley learned piano when she was 3, The Guardian reported.
She discovered jazz at the age of 12 when she attended a Lionel Hampton concert, according to the Times. She hitchhiked across the country five years later and landed in New York City, where she worked as a cigarette girl at Birdland, the newspaper reported.
“I was just this girl from Oakland in a green dress I made myself, looking totally out of place, un-New Yorkerly, holding cigarettes,” Bley said. “I think I was noticeable.”
Impossible to articulate her importance to more than one generation of musicians. Carla Bley: thank you for the music. Wow, what a battler. Composer. Arranger. Bandleader. Visionary. STAR. Rest in Power. And all good vibes to Mr Swallow who was the right guy at the right time. pic.twitter.com/UkUWpbRv3e
— Kirkdale Bookshop (@KirkdaleBooks) October 17, 2023
She was noticed by pianist Paul Bley, and they were married in 1957. After they divorced in 1967, Carla Bley formed the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra with Austrian trumpeter Michael Mantler, the Times reported. They were later married.
Bley is survived by a daughter from that marriage, vocalist, pianist and composer Karen Mantler, Variety reported. She is also survived by Swallow, her partner of more than 30 years.
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