Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader.[2] An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill (released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, John Scofield and her ex-husband Paul Bley.
Bley was born in Oakland, California, United States, to Emil Borg (1899–1990), a piano teacher and church choirmaster,[2] who encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano, and Arline Anderson (1907–1944), who died when Bley was eight years old. After giving up the church to immerse herself in roller skating at the age of fourteen,[3] she moved to New York at seventeen and became a cigarette girl at Birdland, where she met jazz pianist Paul Bley. She toured with him under the name Karen Borg, before she changed her name in 1957 to Carla Borg and married Paul Bley the same year adopting the Bley name.[4] He encouraged her to start composing.[1] The couple divorced in 1967,[5] but she kept his surname professionally.[6]
A number of musicians began to record Bley's compositions: George Russell recorded "Bent Eagle" for his album Stratusphunk in 1960; Jimmy Giuffre recorded "Ictus" on his album Thesis; and Paul Bley's Barrage consisted entirely of her compositions. Throughout her career, Bley has thought of herself as a writer first, describing herself as 99 percent composer and one percent pianist.[7]
In 1964, she was involved in organising the Jazz Composers Guild,[2] which brought together the most innovative musicians in New York at the time.[1] She then had a personal and professional relationship with Michael Mantler, with whom she had a daughter, Karen Mantler, now also a musician in her own right. Bley and Mantler were married from 1965-91. With Mantler, she co-led the Jazz Composers' Orchestra and started the JCOA record label which issued a number of historic recordings by Clifford Thornton, Don Cherry and Roswell Rudd, as well as her own magnum opusEscalator Over The Hill and Mantler's The Jazz Composer's Orchestra LPs.[2] Bley and Mantler were pioneers in the development of independent artist-owned record labels and also started the now defunct New Music Distribution Service which specialized in small, independent labels that issued recordings of "creative improvised music".[8]
She has continued to record frequently with her own big band, which has included Blood, Sweat & Tears' notable Lew Soloff, and a number of smaller ensembles, notably the Lost Chords. Her partner is the bassist Steve Swallow.[11]
carla, bley, born, lovella, borg, 1936, american, jazz, composer, pianist, organist, bandleader, important, figure, free, jazz, movement, 1960s, perhaps, best, known, jazz, opera, escalator, over, hill, released, triple, well, book, compositions, that, have, b. Carla Bley born Lovella May Borg May 11 1936 is an American jazz composer pianist organist and bandleader 2 An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill released as a triple LP set as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists including Gary Burton Jimmy Giuffre George Russell Art Farmer John Scofield and her ex husband Paul Bley Carla BleyBley in 2007Background informationBirth nameLovella May BorgBorn 1936 05 11 May 11 1936 age 87 1 Oakland California U S GenresJazzOccupation s Musician bandleader composerInstrument s Piano organYears active1960 presentLabelsWATT ECM UniversalWebsitewattxtrawatt wbr com Contents 1 Early life 2 Later life and career 3 Awards 4 Discography 5 References 6 External linksEarly life Edit nbsp Carla Bley at Keystone Korner San Francisco 1979Bley was born in Oakland California United States to Emil Borg 1899 1990 a piano teacher and church choirmaster 2 who encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano and Arline Anderson 1907 1944 who died when Bley was eight years old After giving up the church to immerse herself in roller skating at the age of fourteen 3 she moved to New York at seventeen and became a cigarette girl at Birdland where she met jazz pianist Paul Bley She toured with him under the name Karen Borg before she changed her name in 1957 to Carla Borg and married Paul Bley the same year adopting the Bley name 4 He encouraged her to start composing 1 The couple divorced in 1967 5 but she kept his surname professionally 6 Later life and career Edit nbsp Carla Bley conducts her band at the Pori Jazz Festival in Pori Finland 1978 A number of musicians began to record Bley s compositions George Russell recorded Bent Eagle for his album Stratusphunk in 1960 Jimmy Giuffre recorded Ictus on his album Thesis and Paul Bley s Barrage consisted entirely of her compositions Throughout her career Bley has thought of herself as a writer first describing herself as 99 percent composer and one percent pianist 7 In 1964 she was involved in organising the Jazz Composers Guild 2 which brought together the most innovative musicians in New York at the time 1 She then had a personal and professional relationship with Michael Mantler with whom she had a daughter Karen Mantler now also a musician in her own right Bley and Mantler were married from 1965 91 With Mantler she co led the Jazz Composers Orchestra and started the JCOA record label which issued a number of historic recordings by Clifford Thornton Don Cherry and Roswell Rudd as well as her own magnum opus Escalator Over The Hill and Mantler s The Jazz Composer s Orchestra LPs 2 Bley and Mantler were pioneers in the development of independent artist owned record labels and also started the now defunct New Music Distribution Service which specialized in small independent labels that issued recordings of creative improvised music 8 She arranged and composed music for bassist Charlie Haden s Liberation Music Orchestra and wrote A Genuine Tong Funeral for vibraphonist Gary Burton 9 Bley has collaborated with a number of other artists including Jack Bruce 2 Robert Wyatt and Nick Mason drummer for the rock group Pink Floyd Mason s solo debut album Nick Mason s Fictitious Sports was entirely written by Bley and features alongside Mason on drums many of her regular band musicians leading Brian Olewnick of AllMusic to consider it a Carla Bley album in all but name 10 She has continued to record frequently with her own big band which has included Blood Sweat amp Tears notable Lew Soloff and a number of smaller ensembles notably the Lost Chords Her partner is the bassist Steve Swallow 11 In 2005 she arranged the music for and performed on Charlie Haden s latest Liberation Music Orchestra tour and recording Not in Our Name She lives in Woodstock New York 12 Awards EditBley was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972 for music composition 13 In 2009 she was awarded the German Jazz Trophy A Life for Jazz 14 15 Bley received the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2015 16 Discography EditMain article Carla Bley discographyReferences Edit a b c Chinen Nate May 11 2016 Carla Bley Still Improvising and Inspiring as She Turns 80 The New York Times Retrieved May 11 2016 a b c d e Larkin Colin ed 1997 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music Concise ed Virgin Books pp 145 6 ISBN 1 85227 745 9 Sidran Ben Talking Jazz An Illustrated Oral History Pomegranate Artbooks 1992 Carles Philippe Andre Clergeat and Jean Louis Comolli Dictionnaire du jazz Paris 1994 arwulf arwulf Paul Bley Biography AllMusic Retrieved November 1 2022 Turner Charles Bley Carla Lovella May Borg Jazz com Archived from the original on March 2 2015 Retrieved June 28 2016 Review of Andando el Tiempo 2017 The Irish Times June 2 2016 Wilmer Valerie 1977 As Serious As Your Life Quartet p 237 ISBN 0704331640 Litweiler John 1984 The Freedom Principle Jazz After 1958 Da Capo pp 229 230 ISBN 0306803771 Carla Bley at AllMusic Bley s MySpace page cites Swallow as her partner Myspace com Retrieved June 25 2012 Michel Karen December 17 2009 A Traditional Jazz Christmas An Unlikely Source Npr org Retrieved April 15 2011 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Carla Bley Retrieved October 29 2019 German Jazz Trophy for Carla Bley Ecmrecords com Retrieved June 25 2012 German Jazz Trophy 2012 Monty Alexander German jazz trophy de Retrieved June 25 2012 Carla Bley arts gov June 20 2014 Retrieved November 6 2018 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carla Bley Official website EJN Carla Bley Carla Bley and Steve Swallow video interview about Dreams So Real and working with ECM Records Carla Bley in conversation with Frank J Oteri Watt XtraWatt music label Carla Bley discography at Discogs Carla Bley at AllMusic Carla Bley at All About Jazz Carla Bley interview at All About Jazz Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Carla Bley amp oldid 1166894537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
