Bley's pieces could be ethereally beautiful or subversively brash, but always found a grandeur without tilting into pretension.
Valery Hache/AFP via Getty ImagesCarla Bley, the pianist behind some of the most beloved compositions in the jazz canon, who recorded over two dozen albums between 1966 and 2019, died Tuesday. Her death was confirmed by her husband and longtime collaborator, bassist Steve Swallow; the cause given was complications from brain cancer. She was 87.
Carla Bley was born Lovella May Borg on May 11, 1936, in Oakland, Calif. Her father, Emil Borg, was a piano teacher and church organist, and gave Bley her first lessons. She left high school before her junior year and soon was in New York, where she found work — and valuable exposure — as a cigarette seller at the Birdland Jazz Club.
Her own recording career began in 1966 with an album for Fontana, featuring Mantler and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. Next came the mammoth three-LP set, co-credited to Bley and poet Paul Haines, and released by the JCO house label. Recorded between 1968 and 1971, the album featured more than 40 contributors, among them bassists Charlie Haden and Jack Bruce, saxophonist Gato Barbieri, guitarist John McLaughlin, trumpeter Don Cherry, keyboardist Don Preston and vocalist Sheila Jordan.
In addition to Swallow, Bley is survived by her daughter with Mantler, the pianist and vocalist Karen Mantler. Her compositions have continued to be recorded by numerous artists well into this millennium: In 2022, guitarist Steve Cardenas, saxophonist Ted Nash and bassist Ben Allison releasedBeyond her consistency, Bley was known for her humor.
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