GIL EVANS | LAURENT CUGNY | BIG BAND LUMIERE – Rhythm-A-Ning (1988-2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is a very interesting recording. Aging arranger/pianist Gil Evans agreed after much persuasion to come to Paris and play his music at a few concerts with Laurent Cugny's Orchestra. After only one rehearsal, the first event took place, and it gratified Evans to realize that the young French musicians were not only excellent players but big Gil Evans fans. Their interpretations of Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning," "London" and "La Nevada" rank with the best versions of Evans's regular Monday Night Band, and Cugny's "Charlie Mingus' Sound of Love" (an answer to Mingus' "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love") is also excellent. Few of the sidemen, other than tenor-saxophonist Andy Sheppard and percussionist Marilyn Mazur, are known in the U.S., but they did an excellent job of bringing Gil Evans's music to life. Scott Yanow    Tracklist & Credits :

CARLA BLEY — Fleur Carnivore (1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

On Fleur Carnivore, pianist Carla Bley deftly integrates her beautiful melodies into five complex, yet effortless sounding pieces. Taken from 1988 live dates at Copenhagen's Montmartre club, Carnivore spotlights Bley's very accomplished big band, which includes, amongst several others, trumpeter Lew Soloff, alto saxophonist Wolfgang Pusching, trombonist Gary Valente, tenor saxophonist Andy Sheppard, and organist/harmonica player Karen Mantler (Bley's daughter). The title track is a romantically bittersweet ballad swinger, which includes impassioned solos from Pusching and Soloff, while, in nice contrast, there's the buoyant, Latin-tinged "Song of the Eternal Waiting of Canute," featuring rousing solos by Valente and tenor saxophonist Christof Lauer. In addition to these extended pieces, there is the suite composition, "The Girl Who Cried Champagne (Parts 1/2/3)." This breezily swinging bossa nova features meaty tenor work from Sheppard and a minimalist harmonic solo by Mantler. Rounding out the set are the whimsical "Ups and Downs" and the gospel R&B tune "Healing Power." Combining surprising arrangements and pop song melodies, Bley creates a unique jazz language, setting herself apart from both traditionalist bandleaders (Wynton Marsalis, Thad Jones) and more avant-garde stylists (Muhal Richard Abrams, George Russell). Fleur Carnivore is one of Bley's best titles and good place to start for newcomers. Stephen Cook  
Tracklist :
1. Fleur Carnivore - 11:12
Carla Bley
2. Song of the Eternal Waiting of Canute - 9:48
Carla Bley
3. Ups and Downs - 7:05
Carla Bley
4. The Girl Who Cried Champagne Parts 1-3 - 17:15
Carla Bley
5. Healing Power - 10:27
Carla Bley
Personnel
Carla Bley - Piano
Lew Soloff, Jens Winther - Trumpet
Frank Lacy - French Horn, Flugelhorn
Gary Valente - Trombone
Bob Stewart - Tuba
Daniel Beaussier - Oboe, Flute
Wolfgang Puschnig - Alto Saxophone, Flute
Andy Sheppard - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
Christof Lauer - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Roberto Ottini - Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Karen Mantler - Harmonica, Organ, Vibes, Chimes
Steve Swallow - Bass Guitar
Buddy Williams - Drums
Don Alias - Percussion

CARLA BLEY — The Lost Chords (2003) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The Lost Chords are Carla Bley (piano), Andy Sheppard (saxophones), Steve Swallow (electric bass), and Billy Drummond (drums). This self-titled album is a document from the quartet's 2003 European tour. The set begins with the three-part suite "3 Blind Mice," a decidedly straight-ahead set comprised of bluesy hard bop and post-bop tropes. Bley and Sheppard solo and play the front line with great rapport; they complement one another well and their exchanges are relaxed and lyrical. The slightly dissonant angularity of "Hip Hop" reflects Bley's sense of humor as well as her affinity for the funky blues of Horace Silver and Bobby Timmons. "Lost Chords," the nearly 17-minute three-part suite that bookends the album at its close, is one of the most beautifully lyrical pieces Bley has ever composed. Its wide reach across ballad, bop, and modal developments is ambitious, and yet it is also seamless. As showcased to great effect here, Swallow's bass playing, while always subtle and unobtrusive, is such a force in this band that he becomes its entire spine. The depth of communication here is marvelous, and given the level of comfort these musicians have with one another, that feeling of ease is communicated to the listener as well.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     3 Blind Mice: 3 Blind Mice 5:29
Carla Bley
2     3 Blind Mice: Wink Leak/Traps/Leonard Feather 5:30
Carla Bley
3     3 Blind Mice: The Maze/Blind Mice Redux 4:13
Carla Bley
4     Hip Hop 7:42
Carla Bley
5     Tropical Depression 7:37
Carla Bley
6     Red 6:01
Carla Bley
7     Lost Chords: I 9:07
Carla Bley
8     Lost Chords: II 4:23
Carla Bley
9     Lost Chords: III 3:37
Carla Bley
Credits :
Bass, Mixed By, Producer – Steve Swallow
Drums – Billy Drummond
Piano, Composed By – Carla Bley
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Andy Sheppard

CARLA BLEY — The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (2007) WV (image+.cue), lossless

Composer and pianist Carla Bley has been very consistent, if not exactly prolific, for most of her 40 years in jazz. When she and bassist/life partner Steve Swallow hired British saxophonist Andy Sheppard -- then one of his country's young lions as both a composer and as a reedman -- in 1989, they hired him on and he's been with the group ever since. The recorded evidence was heard on Sheppard's first appearance with Bley on the utterly beguiling Fleur Carnivore, and later on the fine trio recording Songs with Legs in 1995. Drummer Billy Drummond joined the unit as a permanent member in the early part of this century, and on 2004's Lost Chords debut, locked in with a unit that seemed to be evenly weighted all around. This quartet has been responsible for some astonishing gigs, and conceivably, Bley could record this group over and over. But she's a restless composer, whether writing for big band or smaller units. The silly but delightful story in the liner notes tells us that she'd been hearing the sound of a trumpet when writing, and found the perfect foil in the sounds coming from Sheppard's headphones. Closer to the truth is it was Sheppard who encouraged Bley to enlist Paolo Fresu for this recording. Simply put, after the great Enrico Rava there is no finer Italian trumpeter than Fresu, an intensely lyrical, warm-toned player who is capable of speedy bebop runs, to be sure (check his early sides for proof), but who favors a more lyrical approach to the music as many Italian jazzers do.
Evidenced by Bley's compositions here, hiring Fresu for this outing was an inspired idea. The combination of Sheppard's big, raw-edged tenor with Fresu's rich and textured approach to both in-line exchange playing and as a soloist is perfect. The disc opens with the six-part "Banana Quintet." (It's obvious that Bley hasn't lost any of her dry ironic wit since her last outing.) It begins slowly on "One Banana," with Fresu's trumpet playing a six-note line, and is joined by the band repeating it with either extra or fewer notes from the same sequence to keep Bley's bars clean. They trade like this for three repetitions before the ballad unfolds with Fresu's solo, as lyrical and pastoral as a warm summer rain in the country. His long solo is followed by a gorgeous one by Swallow before the tune begins to wind down with Swallow coloring the lead line on his high strings in the high register. It's one of the most beautiful songs she has ever composed. The blues enters on "Two Banana," and the listener is treated to the utterly striking and beautiful contrast to this two-horn line. Sheppard solos first on tenor, as the band shuffles along and Bley colors his phrasing with elegant chords that nonetheless contain the hint of something darker in their force. Fresu picks up on the tail end of that solo with his own after twinning on long sustained notes, and he slides into the opposite chair, articulating something more graceful, but no less emotive.
"Third Banana" reveals some of Bley's humor. Its odd phrasing, with Drummond punching in Sheppard's solo with accents, is belied by the sparseness of Bley's own comping, which certainly swings but is also highly idiosyncratic. "Four" is introduced by a bass and piano ostinato line that deeply resembles the Beatles' "I Want You/She's So Heavy." The coolest thing about the cut is the way Drummond comes on more forcefully as it unwinds. He's driving it whether it's from the bell of his cymbal, his snare, his oddly punctuated bass drum accents, or the entire kit, and that force begins to push the other players to meet him. Sheppard finally does, blowing right out of the blue with a deep dark blues line. It becomes apparent about two thirds of the way through that Bley is using that Beatles line verbatim, but it leads somewhere else before the tune empties itself out. There's a subtle yet groovy Latin vibe on "Five Banana" that has some very compelling and tighter, hotter solo work from Fresu. The rhythmic interplay between Swallow and Drummond is utterly entrancing and remarkable. The gorgeous chord voicing that underscore the solo lines by both Fresu and Sheppard are among some of Bley's tastiest yet. It's a kind of pronounced rhythmic counterpoint that uses the dynamic shapes and shades to offer something a little darker to the mix.
There are three cuts outside "The Banana Quintet." There's the languid, sloping swing of "The Liver of Life," with some wonderful harmonic head playing by Sheppard and Fresu. "Death of Superman/Dream Sequence, No. 1: Flying" begins with another deeply song-like bass solo by Swallow and opens onto a limpid palette with breezy tones, at a ballad tempo. Sheppard's solo is spare but exquisite. Finally, "Ad Infinitium" offers Bley's post-bop composition at its best with a fine swinger that walks a line between mid- and quick tempo, gaining in both musculature and a chameleon-like set of changes that are negotiated wonderfully -- especially by their notation in Drummond's skittering breakbeats. Once more, Fresu rises to a faster, tighter flight solo and is answered by Sheppard, the distance between those two sounds breached by the shifting of Bley's big chords, giving them both a wonderful chromatic line to walk.
With all of her strengths on display here, from humor and a strict reliance on substance over her own considerable instrumental virtuosity, to her canny compositional skill at writing balanced and nuanced, elegant works that add to the actual literature of the music, this baby trumps the Lost Chords quartet date (it's sort of amazing that's even possible) in all the right places, making it arguably the finest small group record Bley's ever made.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1. One Banana 8:31
Carla Bley
2. The Two Banana 6:38
Carla Bley
3. The Three Banana
Carla Bley
4. The Four 4:52
Carla Bley
5. The Five Banana 7:52
Carla Bley
6. One Banana More 1:23
Carla Bley
7. Liver of Life 7:14
Carla Bley
8. Death of Superman/Dream Sequence #1--Flying; Ad Infinitum. 7:50
Carla Bley
9. Ad Infinitum 7:43
Carla Bley
Personnel:
Paolo Fresu: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Andy Sheppard: Soprano and Tenor Saxophones
Carla Bley: Piano
Steve Swallow: Bass
Billy Drummond: Drums

CARLA BLEY AND HER REMARKABLE! BIG BAND — Appearing Nightly (2008) APE (image+.cue), lossless

As is made all but plain by the title, Appearing Nightly is a live outing recorded by Carla Bley's big band over two nights at New Morning in Paris in the summer of 2006. Of course we've heard Bley's large group in live settings many times over the years, but in this case it's been five years since we've heard them at all -- at least on a recording. Her last outing with a large ensemble was in 2003 for the pre-election year political album Looking for America.
Bley's last couple of records were made with her Lost Chords group, all of whom are present here: tenor saxophonist and flutist Andy Sheppard, bassist Steve Swallow, and Billy Drummond on the trap kit. Other players include trumpeters Lew Soloff, Florian Esch, and Earl Gardner; trombonists Gary Valente, Richard Henry, and Gigi Grata; Wolfgang Puschnig, Christophe Panzani, and Julian Arguelles make up the saxophone section, with Karen Mantler holding down the organ chair. Most of these players have been with Bley for many years.
The cover of the album also offers a solid clue as to what it sounds like: while it is no doubt a Bley record, meaning its compositions and arrangements are quite contemporary, and if it doesn't have the sound and feel of what it might have in the 1950s for an ensemble this size, it nonetheless echoes both. Furthermore, Bley's tunes go to some length to consciously draw these parallels by freely employing elements of well-known tunes from the great American songbook in both her compositions and in her solos. All of these tracks are filled with her requisite sophistication and humor, but standouts include "Appearing Nightly at the Black Orchid," a 25-minute long suite where Tin Pan Alley composers are paid clever homage in Bley's own solo, which quotes from "Someone to Watch Over Me" within the very framework of the composition. Other highlights include the fingerpopping swinger "Awful Coffee" with beautiful electric bass work by Swallow, and tough solos from Sheppard and Pusching. Bley's playful sense of elegance is also at work here, using many classic jazz tunes in her own piano break including a nice nod to Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." Another standout is the slightly, but pleasantly schizophrenic "Greasy Gravy" with strong work by Sheppard in a chart that references Duke Ellington and Stan Kenton. All of Bley's compositions here are rooted in the rhythm section, where melodies are simple and time signatures vary slightly, but her horn charts take the stuns somewhere far beyond that humble aspiration. The big-band stomp of "Someone to Watch" (not the Gershwin tune) swings along a multi-linear framework, where knotty harmonics and counterpoint give way to brief but fiery solos by some of her bandmates -- check Soloff's trumpet break a minute or so in. Ultimately, this is a very enjoyable set, one that begs repeated playing and deeper listening to get all the referent points, at the very least. But the truth is that it is so enjoyable, you'll find yourself getting lost in the music so often you'll forget to check.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Greasy Gravy 8:50
Carla Bley
2     Awful Coffee 6:11
Carla Bley
3     Apearing Nightly at the Black Orchid: 40 On-20 Off/Second Round/What Wo 25:23
Carla Bley
4     Someone to Watch 5:56
Carla Bley
5     I Hadn't Anyone 'Till You 7:38
Ray Noble
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Wolfgang Puschnig
Baritone Saxophone – Julian Argüelles
Bass – Steve Swallow
Drums – Billy Drummond
Organ – Karen Mantler
Piano, Conductor – Carla Bley
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flute – Roger Jannotta
Tenor Saxophone – Andy Sheppard, Christophe Panzani
Trombone – Beppe Calamosca, Gary Valente, Gigi Grata, Richard Henry
Trumpet – Earl Gardner, Florian Esch, Giampaolo Casati, Lew Soloff

CARLA BLEY | STEVE SWALLOW | ANDY SHEPPARD — Andando el Tiempo (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For over 20 years, the trio of pianist Carla Bley, bassist Steve Swallow, and saxophonist Andy Sheppard have shared each other's creative company. The group's 2016 album, Andando el Tiempo, is a delicately passionate, classically influenced set. A follow-up to 2013's equally compelling Trios, Andando el Tiempo is, surprisingly, only the third album from the group after their initial live 1995 album Songs with Legs. Whereas on Trios they delved into various Bley compositions from throughout her career, on Andando el Tiempo they focus on several more recently penned works. "Naked Bridges/Diving Bridges" brings to mind the impressionism of composer Claude Debussy. It's fascinating to hear the trio move from the moody beginning of the song into the more breezy, straight-ahead mid-section where Swallow, playing fluidly on the upper end of his bass, evinces the lyricism of West Coast trumpeter Chet Baker. The West Coast vibe is also palpable on the ruminative, noir-ish "Saints Alive!" However, it's the title track composition "Andando el Tiempo" that takes center stage on the album. With its three movements meant to represent three of the steps to addiction recovery, "Andando el Tiempo" (meaning "with the passing of time") is a restrained, yet nuanced piece that balances the group's knack for tempered chamber work and fluid, in-the-moment improvisation. Anchored at all times by Bley's measured, atmospheric piano, Sheppard and Swallow take turns dancing in the spotlight. The final movement in particular, the Latin-tinged "Camino al Volver," provides plenty of space for each member of the trio to twirl around each other in focused reverie. Ultimately, it's that shared intensity, born out of the trio's decades-long partnership, that makes Andando el Tiempo such an engaging listen. Matt Collar  
Tracklist :
1     Sin Fin 10:21
Carla Bley
2     Potación de Guaya 9:48
Carla Bley
3     Camino al Volver 8:27
Carla Bley
4     Saints Alive! 8:35
Carla Bley
5     Naked Bridges/Diving Brides 10:05
Carla Bley
Credits :
Bass – Steve Swallow
Piano – Carla Bley
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Andy Sheppard