Time for a little tribute to a great figure in the world of jazz, Carla Bley, who passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Carla Bley was a pianist, organist and composer who I first came across through her 1982 album Carla Bley Live! that contains one of my all-time favourite tracks, the gospel-infused The Lord is Listenin’ To Ya, Hallelujah! featuring the superb trombone playing of Gary Valente. I decided not to make that one my tribute piece because it’s really a solo vehicle for the trombonist, but instead another track from another album. This is from the 1989 album Fleur Carnivore, recorded live in Copenhagen in 1988, which I also have back home. Valente features on this one too, with his unmistakable sound like a wounded bison, but it also features some fine examples of Carla Bley’s skill as a composer and orchestrator as well as other soloists including long-term partner and musical collaborator Steve Swallow. It’s called Healing Power.
R.I.P. Carla Bley (1936-2023)
