This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting – as The Telegraph recently noted – “musical mastery of a rare order”. Throughout, Carla’s distinctive piano, with its hints of Monk and Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. The late 60s and early 70s saw a number of great band leaders taking jazz into a new direction for a large band, somewhat scaling down the format to 10-15 musicians and more importantly adding components of classical, avant-garde, theater and other styles, blending them into interesting and complex compositions. And “Copycat” explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue each other’s thoughts. “Beautiful Telephones”, inspired by a US president’s first observation on entering the Oval Office, has plenty of Bley’s dark wit. The title piece begins as a stoical blues, at first melancholic then hopeful. Ethan Iverson and Mark Turner (photo: George Wells) An NEA.
Called back for an encore, the trio sent the audience out into the night with a glimpse at transcendence, easing into a spacious but tightly compressed rendition of Bley’s Lawns. The album, realized in the Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in Lugano in May 2019, with Manfred Eicher producing, takes the form of three suites. She closed the set with Monk’s Misterioso, examining his blues with industrious patience. So when Bley says “Life Goes On”, a lot of life is alluded to. Individual associations among the players go back much further: bassist Swallow first recorded music by Carla in 1961. The best of the lot has the effervescent title 'The Girl Who Cried Champagne,' an appealingly cool, percolating Latin groove with near-lounge-style organ from Bley and a mildly incendiary rock solo from Bullock, while 'Healing Power' comes close to breaking into a pounding rock beat. A striking album of new music from pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow is now in its 25th year.
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