Carla Bley

Latest Articles

Ralph Towner/Paolo Fresu | Chiaroscuro

ECM (2010)
For some, these open, airy, acoustic guitar/trumpet duets, couched in typically pristine ECM production, will fall too easily on the ear.
By JON GARELICK | March 16, 2010

Carla Bley | Carla's Christmas Carols

Watt/ECM (2009)
It's possible to play Christmas carols with humor but not mockery. So, yes, there's a bit of an eggnog buzz in the wah-wah muted horns of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and a soca lilt to "Jingle Bells." But in this case, "humor" means serious-minded but without solemnity or sentimentality.
By JON GARELICK | December 16, 2009

Interview: Steve Swallow on the Gary Burton Quartet

An interview with Steve Swallow
DO YOU REMEMBER EXACTLY HOW YOU GUYS FIRST GOT TOGETHER? I have a memory. I tend to distrust them, but my recollection is that I met Gary when he called me up and asked me if I would consider playing in Stan Getz's band, which he was already in.
By JON GARELICK | June 30, 2009

Meet the Beatles!

The Gary Burton Quartet remembers its roots
Swallow says that when he first picked up an electric bass, "My immediate impression was: 'Oh, shit! I'm in deep trouble here!' "
By JON GARELICK | June 17, 2009

Year in Jazz: Playing for keeps

By JON GARELICK | December 22, 2008

Fourth-quarter earnings

Haden, Hunter, Rollins, Mela, Bley, and e.s.t.
Times a-wastin' on 2008, so before it's too late, here's a handful of discs that have caught my ear over the past few months.
By JON GARELICK | December 17, 2008

Week in the knees

Jazz Week kicks out the jams, plus Bley and Zorn
“Jazz Week,” which runs April 26–May 4, tends to appropriate all events to its needs — if you’re playing, say, your regularly scheduled gig at Matt Murphy’s Pub this week, you’re part of Jazz Week.
By JON GARELICK | April 28, 2008

Fearful asymmetry

Carla Bley’s Lost Chords, Bill Frisell’s 858 Quartet
Carla Bley’s local appearances are so rare that each one is an event.
By JON GARELICK | April 09, 2008

Budding groves

Jazz in the clubs — and the museums
More and more, museums are getting into the live-music scene.
By JON GARELICK | March 11, 2008

Carla Bley

The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu | Watt/ECM
No one is writing — or playing — more beautiful jazz.
By JON GARELICK | December 31, 2007

Joe + Judi

Lovano and Silvano are two of a kind
Husband and wife Joe Lovano and Judi Silvano came from different musical backgrounds, but they found home — and each other — in the musical ferment of New York’s late-’70s jazz-loft scene.
By JON GARELICK | September 05, 2006