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Paul Bley Trios: Touching & Blood Revisited

By Mark Corroto
June 21, 2021
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Paul Bley Trios: Touching & Blood Revisited

Pianist

Paul Bley

piano
1932 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Bley (1932—2016) wasn't just a witness to jazz history, he was a key contributor. Bley performed with

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young,

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker,

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus, and

Sonny Rollins

saxophone
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins, yet his true sound was set in motion when he performed with

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman in California, evidenced by Live At The Hillcrest Club 1958 (America Records, 1971). While Coleman eschewed a piano in his ensembles until he made the Sound Museum (Harmolodic / Verve, 1996) sessions in the 1990s, Bley kept Ornette's vision alive in solo performance and in his own piano trio format. After Coleman, he would record with the likes of

Jimmy Giuffre

clarinet
1921 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Giuffre,

Marshall Allen

saxophone, alto
b.1924

" data-original-title="" title="">Marshall Allen,

Milford Graves

drums
1940 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Milford Graves, and perform at the October Revolution in 1964. His influence can be heard in the early music of

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett, and in today's stars such as

Matthew Shipp

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Shipp,

Craig Taborn

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Craig Taborn, and

Satoko Fujii

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Satoko Fujii.

These recordings of Bley's trio from 1965 and 1966 were originally released as Touching (Debut Records, 1965) (Mingus' label) and Blood (Fontana, 1966). The first LP recorded in Copenhagen followed by Haarlem in The Netherlands. The constant in the trio was drummer

Barry Altschul

drums
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Barry Altschul with the bass role swapped between

Kent Carter

bass
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Kent Carter and Mark Levinson. The overriding themes here are Bley's navigation through free jazz with bebop articulation. Or is it bebop with a free jazz articulation? Rather than rejecting his past (and also that of jazz) �� la

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor, Bley combines the two. His trio, especially with Altschul's expressive drumming, opens the music to painterly application of sound and silence of "Touching," dynamic interplay "Start," and an off-kilter bluesy swing "Mazatlan." Revisiting these documents from nearly fifty years ago informs today's listeners of the foundations of our 21st century jazz.

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Track Listing

Cartoon; Touching; Start; Mazatlan; Closer; Both; Pablo; Blood.

Personnel

Paul Bley

piano

Barry Altschul

drums

Kent Carter

bass

Mark Levinson

bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Touching & Blood Revisited | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Ezz-thetics

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