Today I learned of the death of Carla Bley, on 17th October from brain cancer, at the age of 87. One of the greatest composers, arrangers, pianists and all-round musicians of the last sixty or seventy years – and I don’t just mean in terms of ‘jazz’ – she was a major figure in my musical life. I first heard her music, I suppose, in the early 1970s, and I followed her career closely thereafter, buying all the albums and seeing her perform live whenever she came to London. Her name has appeared very often in my blogs, but especially here, here and here. I will miss seeing her concerts, but thankfully still have the music. RIP.
The photograph above, of Bley with Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard, was taken in October 2019, by the author.
notes and observations by Geoff Andrew 