Carla Bley - Carla's Christmas Carols (2009)

When the world lost Carla Bley in October 2023, I dealt with my grief by finally hunting down a copy of this CD, which had been on my wish list for a few years. According to the label website it is out of print, but I was able to eventually locate a copy on the secondary market for a very reasonable price (see below). Said label website describes this release thusly:

Christmas music has been an enthusiasm of Carla Bley’s for decades, and traditional and non-traditional seasonal pieces are here subjected to her offbeat wit and idiosyncratic arranging skills. The pleasure that the musicians find in the material is unmistakable and, perhaps particularly after a glass of mulled wine, contagious.

If the term 'idiosyncratic' didn't already exist, someone would have had to coin it to describe Bley's work. This is mostly traditional tunes interpreted by a brass quintet with Bley on keyboards and her partner Steve Swallow on bass. This ain't no Christmas party disc - having this on as background music might drive you and your guests crazy. It requires active listening. You might hear a key change mid-phrase, a jazz solo in the middle of a traditional brass quintet arrangement, plunger mutes, a traditional tune in an odd meter (they can really make a 5/8 swing), a tuba solo, or a song usually heard in a major key changed to a minor one or a mode (maybe Locrian? It's been a while since I studied modes). Bley's exquisite yet unique arranging skills are on full display throughout. I'm happy to add it to the annual Christmas rotation here at blog headquarters.

Reviews, ratings, etc.:

• All About Jazz (★★★★): "leave it to pianist/composer/arranger Carla Bley to produce an album that's as reverentially in the spirit of the season as it gets, while being musically deep enough to fit within her substantial discography with complete relevance"
• Tom Hull: B+ 
• ECM Reviews: "Bley offers an album of original arrangements that speak to the heart of every song while drawing out something long-concealed by the artifice of commercialization."
• Allmusic: "While the argument that there should be a moratorium on Christmas recordings is a good one in the 21st century, Carla's Christmas Carols provides a powerful counter to that view. She has added so much to these songs without taking away any of the warmth, joy, and nostalgia inherent to the season or their place in it."
• DownBeat didn't review the album but instead ran a short feature on it: Carla Bley jump-starts a new holiday tradition

Tracks: At the least, it's all very captivating, but I think the better tracks are The Christmas Song (brass only), King Christmas Bells, the New Orleans jazz arrangement of It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, a reggae version of Jingle Bells, and O Holy Night, a tune I normally don't enjoy. There's two original tunes from Bley on the album, the swinging Hell's Bells (incorporating Santa Claus Is Coming To Town) that segues into a rearrangement of Jesus Maria originally heard on Bley's Musique Mecanique album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I found the disc for $10.99 from an eBay seller, quickly ordered the thing, and the seller posted a USPS delivery tracking number. After a month, I hadn't received the disc, so I dejectedly requested a refund. The seller (a big resale company, not an individual), immediately refunded my money with no questions asked. Of course, the disc arrived in my mailbox the following week. My stupid conscience made me contact the seller and offer payment, but the case was closed, so end of story. Merry Christmas to me, I suppose. :)

Previously revisited for the blog:
Selected Recordings :rarum XV (2004)
Heavy Heart (1984)
Social Studies (1981)
Musique Mecanique (1979)

Carla Bley - Heavy Heart (1984)

German import

Man, is this album ever frustrating. Still, I can't help but like it. It's as if Bley challenged herself to write commercial (almost smooth) jazz music instead of her usual jazz-based art music. To that end, Bley invited artists such as Kenny Kirkland, Hiram Bullock, and Manolo Badrena to join her ten-piece band for this recording. So it kinda sounds like a typical Carla Bley album if there is such a thing, but kinda not and I suspect that description would bring a wry smile to the composer/arranger's face.

Bley's unique orchestration voicings are present throughout and there's some catchy melodies over some smooth chord changes. Maybe it's just frustrating to me because it wasn't what I expected. Nevertheless, like I said, I dig 5 of the 6 tracks here. Looking back, I'm not sure how much Bley likes these tunes as she did not select any of the 6 tunes from this album for her retrospective entry in ECM's rarum series in 2004.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "some of her most accessible music yet"
• Musician: "I'll be damned if the album didn't finally make my surly, snobbish heart go pit-a-pat."
• Tom Hull: B+
• Downbeat (★★★): "the tunes aren't as strong as her more 'serious' compositions, but the soloing is exhilarating"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★

debuted at #9 in the April 20, 1984 issue

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #27
• CashBox Jazz: #14
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #4

Tracks: My favorite tracks are the noir-ish Talking Hearts (great solo from Bullock), the appropriately named Joyful Noise (great solo from Kirkland), and the title track featuring Steve Slagle on alto sax. Bley's sense of humor is evident by having a cut titled Ending It followed by a tune titled Starting Again, the latter being more in the style of free jazz with a fair share of dissonance and, to my ears, doesn't really fit in with the other five tracks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The above magazine ad from Radio & Records magazine caught my eye so I thought I'd give the thing a try even though my copy of The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD clearly states, "This is a disappointing vintage in Bley's music."

It also occurs to me that I saw three of the musicians mentioned above around the time this album was recorded: Badrena with Spyro Gyra in 1983, Kirkland with Sting in 1985, and Bullock with David Sanborn opening for Al Jarreau, also in 1985. If I'd only seen Bley and her group back then. That might have been a better (and cheaper) music education than what I was getting in college.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Selected Recordings :rarum XV (2004)
Social Studies (1981)
Musique Mecanique (1979)

Carla Bley - Social Studies (1981)

EU Import

Humorously derivative and cleverly melodic with orchestrations and instrumentations all her own, there's no mistaking Carla Bley compositions.

High Fidelity magazine called Bley's work "a fascinating amalgam of Duke Ellington, Jacques Brel, and Kurt Weill" and I can't write anything better, so I'm done.

Press of the time:

• Downbeat (★★★): "a recording of craft rather than creation, and garners accurate, rather than inspired, playing"
• Stereo Review: "The sound has its appeal, but at this point it is not very creative."
• Billboard: "tightly arranged, melodic compositions"
• CashBox: "music that is frequently moving"
• Musician: "there are beautiful melodies in abundance here, played with well-tempered passion"
• Rolling Stone Album Guide: ★★★★★

In a fashion, the album made an appearance on The Simpsons as Lisa was browsing in All Sales Vinyl:

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #27

Tracks: The album's centerpiece, the 13-minute Reactionary Tango, is almost sadistic in its relentless tango rhythm and features Bley's piano and organ work as well as Carlos Ward on saxophones. Track 2, Copyright Royalties, is as Ellingtonian as anything she's ever written. Maybe the most beautiful song on the album is Útviklingssang (roughly translates from Norwegian as "development song"), named after Bley witnessed a protest march in Oslo against the building of dams to generate more energy for Norway which would adversely affect wildlife. So the title takes on more than one meaning and today I can't decide which one I'd prefer. Track 5, Floater is a tasteful take on a very early Carla Bley composition featuring bassist Steve Swallow. The album closes with a humorous, herky-jerky, post-bop piece, Walking Batteriewoman. As with all Bley albums, this rewards repeated listenings.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I was introduced to Bley and her music in early 1984, but really didn't catch on until about 15 years later.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Selected Recordings :rarum XV (2004)
Musique Mecanique (1979)

Carla Bley - Selected Recordings :rarum XV (2004)

ECM :rarum MONTH* (MARCH 2017)

A brilliant composer/keyboardist/band leader that successfully manages to combine avant-garde, art music, and jazz with a wonderful sense of irreverent humor. Even more impressive when you consider she had no formal music training beyond piano lessons as a youth (there's yet another argument against overpriced higher education). Unique instrumentation varies greatly from track to track: one cut might have Bley performing with a big band, followed by a string quartet, the next cut features only a piano and bass. We're even treated to a oddly folkish song with vocals by a young Linda Ronstadt from Bley's jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill. I should own more of her CDs. An acquired taste, but one well-worth acquiring.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 11 tracks, 76 minutes.

Title	Album	Year
Baseball	4 x 4	2000	✔
Major	Are We There Yet?	1999	✔
End of Vienna	Fancy Chamber Music	1998
Chicken	Song with Legs	1994	✔
On the Stage In Cages	Big Band Theory	1993
Fleur Carnivore	Fleur Carnivore	1989
More Brahms	Sextet	1987	✔
Walking Batteriewoman	Social Studies	1981
Silence	The Ballad of the Fallen	1983
Why	Escalator Over the Hill	1971
Ictus	Thesis (Jimmy Giuffre 3)	1961

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Musique Mecanique (1979)

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*Back in June 2015, this beautiful thing showed up at my doorstep:

It's a 12 CD box set (2008) of compilation discs from ECM's :rarum series, a birthday gift from a good friend. In this series, the artists were given the freedom to pick their personal favorite recordings from any ECM release they've made as a leader or sideman. In other words, the label got outta the way and good for them. I'll be making my way through the set this month.

ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), originally a German label, was founded in 1969. "Rarum" comes from the Latin root "rarus" meaning "rare" (perhaps foreshadowing that these CDs wouldn't be in print for very long).

The Carla Bley Band - Musique Mecanique (1979)

Note: this release was received as a gift as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

German Import

This music is hard to describe. Avant garde big band fusion meets melodic free jazz, maybe? It's got some improv, but the adventurous, often humorous themes are well-structured. At the very least, it's challenging music. The unique instrumentation adds to the odd effect: brass quartet, woodwinds, piano, bass (electric and acoustic), guitars, electric pump organ, walkie-talkie, glockenspiel, and Bley herself on organ and toy piano. This is the sort of music you'd hear on a late night show on public radio.

Reviews/ratings:

• Walrus!: "This is fine modern, improvisational chamber music."
• DownBeat (★★★½): "fascinating but bizarre"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:  The lead track, 440, is a playful take on the standard tuning note A440. It's the most accessible piece on the album and I like it, especially when it kicks into high gear with some scorching sax solos. The hit-or-miss second track, Jesus Maria And Other Spanish Strains, is a pastiche of all genres things Spanish, including norteño and toreador; with a lots of drunken-sounding trombone throughout, some sections are better than others. What was side B (tracks 3-5 on CD) is a suite of 3 pieces comprising Musique Mecanique. That's when things get bizarre. Not surprisingly, I mainly listened to side one of the LP.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: (shared with Jamaaladeen Tacuma - Show Stopper ) When I was a senior in high school, Craig, a family friend, upon hearing that I wanted to study music in college, sent me two LPs: this one and Show Stopper by Jamaaladeen Tacuma. These albums were accompanied by a hand-written note telling me that I should listen to as many different kinds of music as possible (he was right, of course). Being a typical high school senior, I thought I was already an expert on everything, so I didn't know what these odd albums could possibly offer me. After all, I was already listening to all kinds of music, wasn't I? I had a subscription to Rolling Stone, didn't I? Talk about naïve. I wasn't quite ready for this stuff then, but I always looked up to Craig, so I never gave up on these albums and, years later, finally understood why he gave them to me.