Paul Bley

Paul Bley is a free jazz pianist born in Montreal in 1932 and long resident in the USA. His music characteristically features strong senses both of melodic voicing and space.

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As well as being a distinctive and innovative musician himself, he has worked with a number of important musicians at key points.

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In 1957, he played with Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman in California.

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In the early 1960s he was part of the Jimmy Giuffre 3, a drummerless clarinet, piano and bass trio with bassist Steve Swallow. The quiet understatement of this music makes it possible to overlook its degree of innovation. As well as a repertoire introducing compositions by Carla Bley, the group's music moved towards free improvisation based on close empathy.

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In 1964 Bley was instrumental in the formation of the Jazz Composers Guild - a co-operative organisation which brought together many of the most radical musicians in New York.

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Bley had long been interested in expanding the palette of his music using unconventional sounds (such as playing directly on the piano-strings). It was therefore consistent that he took an interest in new electronic possibilities appearing in the late 1960s. He pioneered the use of Moog synthesizers, performing with them before a live audience for the first time.

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This led into a period of the Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show, a group where he worked with songwriter Annette Peacock on bass and vocals.

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Subsequently Bley returned to a predominant focus on the piano itself.

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During the 1970s, Bley was responsible for an important multi-media initiative, Improvising Arts Inc which issued important LPs documenting the early group with Ornette Coleman as well as solo piano recordings by Sun Ra and videos.

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Bley was an important influence on Keith Jarrett.

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Free jazz: Free jazz is a movement of jazz music characterized by diminished dependence on formal constraints. Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, it was pioneered by artists such as Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon and Paul Bley. Some of the best known examples are the late...

Pianist: :This article deals with those who play the piano. For other uses, see pianist (disambiguation)....

Montreal: Montreal or Montr?al1 (pronounced in Canadian English, in standard French, and in Quebecois French) is the second largest city in Canada. According to the most recent Canadian census (2001), the city itself has 1,812,723 inhabitants while 3,426,350 people live in the Greater Montreal Area (Statis...

Paul Bley related Images and Photos (experimental)

Paul Bley Circles	Paul Bley Circles	St. Paul	Paul Anka
Paul Muni	Paul Ford	Paul Anka	Paul Ford
Paul Rudd	Paul DVD (Widescreen)	Paul Gross	Paul Young