![]() The sound of a crowd sets the scene as Bley warms up on the piano (she also plays tenor saxophone). Bley sings on the latter tune with a touch of melancholy that cannot be washed away with any amount of champagne. Yet what on the surface appears to be even-tempered teems with chaos and fascinations beneath. “Dreams So Real” (recorded the year before on the eponymous album by Gary Burton for ECM) is another laid-back beauty, replete with electric undercurrent, as is “Dining Alone.” Rudd and Ward are a lovely leading pair, while the electric guitar of Eric Gale is incisive and intriguing. Though smoother than its surrounding courses, Bley keeps us on our aural toes with some interesting changes in the organ. “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues” also happens to be the title of record by the Art Farmer Quartet, which included the timeless “Ad Infinitum,” also heard here. That said, she does use the piano to heat up the appetizer of “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues.” The sounds of a meal serve as backdrop while joy and self-derision pass around the same funky libation, compelling Rudd to raise an early toast (also check out his dialogue with a trumpeting Mantler on “Song Sung Long”). ![]() This time around, the bandleader and composer relegates the pianistic duties to Richard Tee and opts mostly for organ, thereby adding warmth of character and a tingling personality. Fourth, it sets the tonal balance of wit and rigor that defines a particularly fruitful era of her genius. Third, it welcomes saxophonist Carlos Ward, trombonist Roswell Rudd, and tuba player Bob Stewart into the fold. Second, it gives her room to interpret some of her most inspired tunes for the first time in the studio (after having been recorded by Paul Bley and others). First, it introduces a big band format that will serve Bley well in the decades to come. Our date with this ten-tet falls under the banner of CLASSIC for several reasons. ![]() Now that we have been thoroughly psychoanalyzed by Michael Mantler’s dramaturgical shadows, leaving behind the jetlag from our trip, we can at last eat our fill and bask in the glow of Carla Bley’s Dinner Music. Recorded July through September and mixed October 1976 at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, New York Alessandro Palacino's snake-charming soprano sax on "Egyptian" (a tune which receives its premier recording here), Stefano D'Anna's elegant tenor on "440", Orazio Maugeri's stinging alto on "Blunt Object".Carlos Ward alto and tenor saxophones, fluteĮric Gale guitar (on “Dreams So Real,” “Dining Alone,” and “Ida Lupino”)Ĭornell Dupree guitar (on “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues” and “Funnybird Song”)Ĭarla Bley organ (piano introduction on “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues,” vocal on “Dining Alone,” piano and tenor saxophone on “Ida Lupino”) Though Gary Valente's blasting trombone takes the lion's share of the solos here (he's a proven and very authoritative exponent of Bley's music), the Sicilian soloists also make a strong impression. ![]() The Sicilian musicians don't appear daunted by previous interpretations, and guitarist Pino Greco studiously avoids sounding like Pat Metheny, Mick Goodrick, Eric Gale, or Cornell Dupree – no small achievement – finding something of his own to say in biting, blues-drenched phrasings. Interesting, too, to have a big band version of "Dreams So Real" after Gary Burton's two tender passes at it on Dreams So Real and Picture This and the (10-piece) Bley Band's more matter-of-fact reading on Dinner Music. "Baby Baby", for example, previously heard only in skeletal form on the Bley/Swallow Duets album, turns out to be a compelling blowing vehicle, with Valente and trumpeter Massimo Greco raging over its loping, Latinate rhythm. Orchestra Jazz Siciliana Plays The Music Of Carla Bley is a valuable addition to the Bley canon for the new light it throws on the pieces. Traditions die hard in Sicily, and this orchestra swings powerfully in the grand manner, like a Mediterranean Basie unit, almost, but for Carla's irrepressible sense of satire and piquant chord changes.īley's tunes, hardy perennials, thrive in this climate. The Sicilian Orchestra tackles compositions previously heard on the Carla Bley albums Musique Mecanique, I Hate To Sing, Dinner Music, Duets, Live! and Heavy Heart, and though Bley herself is conducting, the orchestra's approach transforms the material or, to put it another way, returns it to the jazz tradition. The orchestra is augmented by Bley band regulars Steve Swallow and Gary Valente, in equally minacious mood, on these live sessions recorded in Palermo in the spring of 1989. In response to "an offer they couldn't refuse", the Watt Works family agreed to release this album of Carla Bley's music recorded by the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana, a cigar-chewing, black-hatted, 17-piece big band, who pack more than a few loaded horn cases between them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |