Carla Bley was an influential figure in the free jazz movement who became a staunch advocate of artists’ rights and the creation of independent record labels so musicians would have greater control over their own music.
- Died: October 17, 2023 (Who else died on October 17?)
- Details of death: Died at home in Willow, New York, of brain cancer at the age of 87.
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Carla Bley’s legacy
The Oakland, California-born Bley was encouraged to explore music at a young age, thanks to her piano teacher and church choirmaster father, Emil Borg. At 17, she moved to New York and met jazz pianist Paul Bley. She toured with him, and the pair married in 1957 only to divorce ten years later in 1967, after which she kept the Bley name. Paul Bley encouraged her to compose her own work, and in fact, his 1964 album, “Barrage,” was made up entirely of compositions she wrote.
Writing and composing was important to Bley. Though she was an accomplished pianist, she considered herself a writer first and a performer second. She helped organize the Jazz Composers Guild in 1964 and co-led the Jazz Composers’ Orchestra with her second husband, Michael Mantler. Bley’s discography spans dozens of releases, both as a solo artist and with others, including 1971’s “Escalator Over the Hill.”
When not writing and performing music, Bley created independent record labels and helped others do the same. She and Mantler created the New Music Distribution Service, and she formed such record labels as JCOA Records, Watt, and ECM Records to help artists get their work released outside the control of major record labels. Bley has been honored as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.
Notable quote
“In free playing, everybody played as loud as they could and as fast as they could and as high as they could. I liked them, but there was also what Max Gordon said about a bunch of guys screaming their heads off: ‘Call the pound.’ I think the music needed a setting. Just as it was, I thought free jazz needed work.”—from a 2018 interview in The New Yorker
Tributes to Carla Bley
Full obituary: The New York Times
