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PEOPLE & ARTSThursday 7 January 2016
Avant-garde jazz pianist Paul Bley dies at 83 in Florida
CHARLES J. GANS was a musical adventurer His groundbreaking piano In 1957, Bley moved to Los low and drummer Pete La
Associated Press determined to find his own trios — notably with bassist Angeles where he per- Roca, releasing the influ-
NEW YORK (AP) — Visionary voice. “If I come up with Gary Peacock and drum- formed with trumpeter ential 1963 album “Foot-
Canadian-born pianist Paul a phrase that sounds like mer Paul Motian — liberat- Chet Baker. In 1958, Bley loose.” He turned down an
Bley, a pivotal figure in the somebody else, I don’t ed rhythm instruments from invited a then-unknown invitation to join Miles Da-
avant-garde jazz move- play it,” he said in a 2006 their traditional supporting Ornette Coleman and his vis’ band, choosing instead
ment known for his innova- interview for the website All roles, making everyone quartet with drummer Billy to tour in 1963 with Sonny
tive trio and solo record- About Jazz. equal as improvisers. Higgins, trumpeter Don Rollins, with whom he re-
ings, has died. He was 83. He challenged the bebop Bley also helped introduce Cherry and bassist Charlie corded the album “Sonny
Bley died Sunday of natu- orthodoxy, adapting the promising young musi- Haden to play with him at Meets Hawk” featuring ten-
ral causes at his winter free jazz of saxophonist cians such as guitarist Pat the Hillcrest Club. or saxophonist Coleman
residence in Stuart, Florida, Ornette Coleman for the Metheny and electric bass- That gig led Bley to be re- Hawkins.
said Tina Pelikan, publicist piano, offering a quieter, ist Jaco Pastorius, and influ- garded as “the man who Bley helped form the co-
for the ECM record label, moodier version. He later enced many musicians in- headed the palace coup operative Jazz Composers
citing family members. pioneered experiments cluding pianist Keith Jarrett that overthrew bebop” in Guild in 1964 which brought
Throughout his career, Bley with synthesizers. and guitarist Bill Frisell. the Penguin Guide to Jazz. together many of the lead-
This undated photo provided by ECM Records shows the visionary Canadian-born pianist Paul
Bley. Bley, a pivotal figure in the avant-garde jazz movement known for his innovative trio and
solo recordings, has died at age 83. Bley died Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, of natural causes at his win-
ter residence in Stuart, Florida, said Tina Pelikan, publicist for the ECM record label, citing family
members.
(Hans Kumpf/ECM Records via AP)
Born Nov. 10, 1932, in Mon- In 1959, Coleman’s quartet ing avant-garde jazz musi-
treal, Bley began studying appeared at New York’s cians in New York, includ-
music at age 5, starting on Five Spot jazz club and ing pianist Cecil Taylor and
violin and switching to pia- released the album “The saxophonist Archie Shepp.
no by age 7. Shape of Jazz to Come” — In the late 1960s, Bley be-
As a teenager, he was al- a seminal moment in jazz came one of the first jazz
ready playing gigs around history that ushered in the musicians to use electron-
Montreal, and at age 17 free jazz movement. ics and Moog synthesizers.
replaced fellow Montreal Bley “was the one who un- He showcased the songs of
pianist Oscar Peterson at derstood what Ornette was the synth-playing singer An-
the Alberta Lounge. Bley doing and who brought nette Peacock, with whom
moved to New York in 1950 that kind of tonal mobility he was romantically in-
to study at Juilliard, but re- and melodic freedom to volved. They presented the
mained active in his home the piano,” the noted critic first-ever live performance
city, where he formed the Stanley Crouch once ob- with a portable Moog au-
Montreal Jazz Workshop, served. He married pianist dio synthesizer at Philhar-
playing with such bebop and composer Karen Borg, monic Hall in New York in
legends as Charlie Parker who changed her name to 1969 and made several re-
and Sonny Rollins. Carla Bley, and the couple cordings.
In New York, he partici- moved back to New York During the 1970s, Bley part-
pated in pianist Lennie in 1959. His groups featured nered with his second wife,
Tristano’s experimental jazz her compositions. videographer Carol Goss,
workshops and met bass- Bley worked in clarinet- to create the production
ist Charles Mingus, who ist Jimmy Giuffre’s avant- company, Improvising Art-
produced and played on garde chamber jazz trio, ists Inc., which issued LPs
Bley’s 1953 debut record- and then formed his own and some of the first music
ing, “Introducing Paul Bley.” trio with bassist Steve Swal- videos.q
