The Music of Carla Bley

1
The Music of Carla Bley

• Amy C. Beal (UC Santa Cruz)

2
Romantic Notions 1

• Romantic Notions (1987)
• Eight solo piano pieces
• Dedicated to Ursula Oppens, Alan Feinberg, and
  Robert Shannon
• Premiered by Oppens in 1988
• Reorchestrated in 1997

3
Lovella May Borg (b. 1936, Oakland, CA)I
always did whatever interested me. I probably
would have compromised myself, but no one ever
asked me to.
4
(No Transcript)
5
Doctor (Jazz Realities, 1965/66)
6
Christian Wolff, Darmstadt (1972)

• Freedom has come about by virtue of the fact
  that the avant garde has, until fairly recently,
  existed in a kind of social vacuum, it has not
  been taken up or supported by any of the normal
  social agencies, be they academic or be they the
  concert world. The normal establishment musical
  life has until very recently, and now only in
  very tentative ways, has made no effort
  whatsoever to do anything for this kind of music.
  So the composers of this kind of music have
  always felt a kind of indifference to, or lack of
  pressure from, certain social demands. They
  didnt feel that they had to write music that
  would be pleasing to a particular kind of
  establishment.

7
Wolff, 1972, cont.

• This isnt to say that they didnt feel economic
  pressures, they werent free in that sense, but
  they were artistically or aesthetically free. If
  you reflect on that a little bit you can see
  there are both advantages and disadvantages to
  that condition. Its obviously a very good
  atmosphere in which to grow up, and in which to
  find what you need to find, and what you can do
  musically, but on the other hand, you pay a very
  great price for this sense of isolation, of being
  cut off.

8
Carla Bley

• Almost everything Ive written has been covered,
  which means quite an income for me. And I live
  very comfortably. And I feel proud and sort of
  like a shining example, mainly because Im
  independent. I dont belong to a stable. Im not
  a pet of the recording industry. I put out my own
  records. We book our own band. I have my
  publishing company. I have my own recording
  studio. Everything I do is totally controlled by
  me. Ive never had to compromise one bit.

9
(No Transcript)
10
Nat Hentoff on NMDS (1984)

• NMDS is an exceptionally valuable network for
  people who need music to make sense of the world
  and themselves. And thats an understatement.
  When I was a kid I used to buy Harry Partch
  records by mail direct from Harry Partch. It was
  exciting, getting the music from the musician. I
  cherished those recordsboth for what was in
  them, and the freedom they represented. And
  thats what NMDS is distributing. Freedom.

11
Steve Swallow on Bley

• Despite Carlas insistence that shes just
  trying to write like Ernie Wilkins, she
  ruthlessly rejects cliché in everything she does.
  Over the years she has evolved a personal melodic
  vocabulary based on unexpected but entirely
  logical intervallic relationships. She has also
  synthesized a harmonic vocabulary from a variety
  of sources. She has an extraordinary ear. She was
  the first person Im aware of to develop an
  understanding of Thelonious Monks voicings, for
  example. She has perfect pitch, and can sing the
  notes in the voicings of incredibly dense
  harmonies. Ive heard her do this to music by
  Charles Wuorinen, perhaps her favorite composer.

12
Types of Music

• Miniatures (early short pieces)
• Early Songs Without Words
• JCOA Concept Albums
• Liberation Music Orchestra
• Other Arrangements/Orchestrations
• Additional Work For/With Others
• Fancy Chamber Music
• Big Band/Very Big Band
• Duos with Swallow
• Other Small Ensembles

13
Miniatures (haiku style )early short pieces,
1958-64

• Donkey
• O Plus One
• Bent Eagle
• And Now The Queen
• Ictus
• Vashkar
• Flags
• Walking Woman

14
(No Transcript)
15
Early recorded work

• 1. O Plus One
• (Paul Bley, Solemn Meditation, 1958)
• 2. Bent Eagle
• (George Russell, Stratusphunk, 1960)

16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
Early Songs Without Words(ca. 1961-75)

• Sing Me Softly of the Blues
• Ida Lupino
• Útviklingssang
• Jésus Maria

24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
JCOA/CBBB Concept Albums

• A Genuine Tong Funeral (Gary Burton) 1967
• Escalator Over the Hill 1968-71
• Why
• Vashkar Rawalpindi Blues
• Tropical Appetites 1973
• The Funny Bird Song
• Dinner Music 1977
• Musique Mecanique 1978
• Carla Bley Big Band Goes To Church 1996
• Looking For America 2003

27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
Additional Arrangements and Orchestrations

• Carl Ruggles
• Charlie Hadens Liberation Music Orchestra
• National Anthems
• We Shall Overcome
• Christmas Carols
• Spanish Civil War Songs
• El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido
• Samuel Barber
• Antonin Dvorak
• Soon I Will Be Done With the Troubles of This
  World (trad. Spiritual)
• Nick Mason, Fictitious Sports
• Kurt Weill, Nino Rota, Thelonious Monk (Hal
  Willner)

32
Fancy Chamber Music

• More Brahms (1986)
• Romantic Notions (1987)
• End of Vienna (1993)
• Wolfgang Tango (1998)

33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
(No Transcript)
36
(No Transcript)
37
Bley on Over There

• Over There could be imagined as a tug between
  classical waltz feel and jazz waltz feel. The
  player starts off in a standard Viennese waltz
  fashion, but before long, a few syncopations are
  creeping into the left hand and a swing time-feel
  gradually takes over. Even rhythm and blues
  phrases pop up, although the early form and chord
  changes remain unchanged. One RB inspiration was
  the Holland/Dozier/Holland song recorded by the
  Supremes, Where Did Our Love Go? That song is
  an early favorite of mine, and there are quotes
  from it sprinkled here and there, and references
  to the way the words Baby Baby and the
  background was sung. The title Over There is an
  accidental quote of a World War II patriotic
  song. An entertaining discovery was that the
  title happens to answer the question of the
  earlier mentioned Supremes song.

38
The Final Word?

• The last four bars should be played with a
  strong and rhythmic jazz feel, having, so to
  speak, the final word.