Paul Bley

Born: November 10, 1932

"Since the Montreal-born, long-US resident Bley's 50's debut with Mingus and Blakey, he's worked with more first-rate, wide ranging original musical minds than anyone but Miles..." —Howard Mandel, Downbeat, April 1995

Bley gave violin recitals at age five. By age seven he was studying piano. He went through numerous classical teachers—including one Frenchman that had him play, balancing filled water glasses on the tops of his hands. At age 11 he graduated from the McGill Conservatory—having taken on their musical curriculum in addition to his public school education. Bley, who was known as "Buzzy" in his early adolescence, formed a band and played clubs and summer hotel jobs in the Laurentian Mountains at age 13. Four years later he replaced Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge. Bley founded the Montreal Jazz Workshop and brought Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Brew Moore and Alan Eager to Montreal inorder to perform with them.

Open, to Love

By Paul Bley

Label: ECM Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Closer; Ida Lupino; Started; Open, To Love; Harlem; Seven; Nothing Ever Was, Anyway

Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited

By Paul Bley

Label: Ezz-thetics
Released: 2025
Track listing: When Will The Blues Leave; Floater; Stereophrenic; The Circle With The Hole In The Middle; Around Again; Syndrome; Cousins; King Korn; Vashkar; Ballad No. 1; Ballad No. 2; Ballad No. 4; Turns.

Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Ki

by Dan McClenaghan
September 5, 2025

The sound of Ki is deeply steeped in deliberation, dignity and old-world stateliness. This, coming from the long-term team of trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and pianist Satoko Fujii, might surprise those who have followed the duo's trajectory over its quarter-century-plus existence. Fujii and Tamura stir up musical pots and pans in a startling array of styles. Most ...

Zlatko Kau?i?: il rigore della libert��

by Neri Pollastri
August 25, 2025

Reduce dall'uscita del cofanetto di quattro CD Inklings (Fundacja S?uchaj) e alla vigilia della quindicesima edizione del Brda Contemporary Music Festival, da lui fondato e diretto, il batterista, percussionista, compositore e didatta Zlatko Kau?i? continua una carriera ultraquarantennale che l'ha visto collaborare con i pi�� grandi improvvisatori europei. Musicista appassionato e persona schietta, sensibile ai temi ...

Lucian Ban: jazz, musica popolare della Romania e l'alter ego Mat Maneri

by Neri Pollastri
August 18, 2025

Originario della Romania, sebbene da quasi trent'anni residente a New York, il pianista Lucian Ban alterna da tempo le proprie produzioni originali alla ricerca sulla musica della propria terra, quasi sempre assieme al violista Mat Maneri, con il quale forma da anni uno stretto sodalizio artistico. Dopo aver pi�� volte parlato dei suoi album dedicati alla ...

?lvaro Torres: Iris

by Angelo Leonardi
August 14, 2025

Tempus fugit. Quest'album fotografa il debutto professionale a New York del pianista madrileno Álvaro Torres, in trio col batterista Barry Altschul e il contrabbassista John Hébert. La registrazione �� del luglio 2023 ma gi�� il mese successivo Torres presentava a Barcellona il quartetto europeo con Tony Malaby al sax tenore, Masa Kamaguchi al contrabbasso e Kresten ...

Ornette Coleman's and Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman" �� A Disambiguation

by Artur Moral
July 27, 2025

Reality is filled with confusion and misunderstandings; some are suggestive or creative, while others are disappointing or, worse, malicious. The jazz world is no stranger to the first type: specific compositions are often confused or misidentified as if they were the same. Usually, this happens because of similar melodies or titles that are sometimes identical. This ...

Piano Four-t��: Keyboard Masters Delight On A Quartet of ECM Luminessence Vinyl Reissues

by Joshua Weiner
June 24, 2025

Blue Note. Verve. Impulse! Prestige. Just saying the name of such storied jazz record labels immediately conjures up each one's distinct aesthetic, from the music to the cover art. Over the past half century, the German ECM label has earned its place in this pantheon by steadfastly following its own vision, perhaps best summed up by ...

Lucian Ban: Following Bart��k's Trail Through the Transylvanian Villages

by Dean Nardi
June 18, 2025

It is hard to re-invent where jazz can go. Players can eschew all the conventional methods they want, but a wheel is still a wheel. This is a reason why pianist Lucian Ban's efforts to bring to light the Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist Bela Bart��k's works as a field collector of folk music in 21st-century ...