Biography

Montreal-born Paul Bley has had a remarkable career as a composer, pianist, and general instigator amongst his rarefied group of friends and collaborators. He is a distinctive player whose solos explode out of the harmonic frame like musical cubism, and his compositions balance bebop feel with avant-garde intellectualism. He has played with just about every important bop and free-jazz musician, from the 1950s through the current day, and has, through his imaginative and prolific recorded output, helped launch the careers of lesser-known writers and players. He has been married to two brilliant composers--Carla Bley and Annette Peacock--whose work he has lovingly covered in depth.

Top Tracks

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• 52nd Street Theme

• About Time

• Above The Tree Line

• Again Anew

• Albert's Love Theme

• As Beautiful As The Moon

• Blood

• Blues In The Closet

• Breakdown

• Carla

• Chaos (piano Solo)

• Circles

• Dialogue Amour

• Dreams

• Drum One

• Fig Foot

• Gesture Without Plot

• Harlem

• Ictus

• Ida Lupino

• Kid Dynamite

• King Korn

• Latin Genetics

• Little Bells

• Lost Love

• Marsh Tides

• Mondsee Variations Iv

• Mondsee Variations V

• Mondsee Variations Vii

• My Heart

• Never Again

• No Pun Intended

• Not Zero: In Three Parts

• Note Police

• Notes

• Nothing Ever Was, Anyway

• Only Lovely

• Pent-up House

• Poetic Justice

• Ram Dance

• Ramblin'

• Remembering

• Seven

• Sideways In Mexico

• Snakes

• Speak Easy

• Starting Over

• Sweet Time

• Tango Palace

• The Nearness Of You

• There Will Never Be Another You

• Three Fifth

• Touching

• Turns

• Upstairs

• Variation 2

• Variation 5

• Variation 9

• Walkin'

• We'll Be Together Again

• When Will The Blues Leave?

Discography

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• About Time

  Justin Time

  2008

• Solo in Mondsee

  ECM

  2007

• Nothing to Declare

  Justin Time / Justin Time

  2004

• Sankt Gerold

  ECM

  2001

• Basics

  Justin Time / Justin Time

  2001

• Not Two, Not One

  ECM

  1999

• Hands On

  Evidence

  1997

• 12 (+6) In a Row

  hatART

  1995

• Annette

  Hat Hut Records

  1995

• Sweet Time

  Justin Time / Justin Time

  1995

• Outside In

  Justin Time

  1994

• Time Will Tell

  ECM

  1994

• Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet

  Musidisc (import)

  1994

• Synth Thesis

  Postcards

  1994

• If We May

  Steeplechase

  1993

• Plays Carla Bley

  Steeplechase

  1991

• In the Evenings out There

  ECM

  1991

• Lyrics

  Splasc(H) Records

  1991

• A Musing

  Hmo

  1991

• Changing Hands

  Hmo

  1991

• Live at Sweet Basil

  Soul Note (Italy)

  1991

• Partners

  Sunnyside / Owl/Confluences Series/Sunnyside

  1989

• The Nearness of You

  SteepleChase / Steeplechase

  1988

• Solo Piano

  Steeplechase

  1988

• Solo

  Justin Time

  1987

• My Standard

  Steeplechase

  1985

• The Paul Bley Group

  Soul Note (Italy)

  1985

• Sonor

  Soul Note (Italy)

  1983

• Tears

  Owl

  1983

• Ramblings

  Affinity

  1980

• Paul Bley & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

  Steeplechase

  1973

• Synthesizer Show

  1970

• Mr. Joy

  Limelight Records

  1968

• Paul Bley in Harlem

  1967

• Ramblin'

  RED Distribution

  1966

• Touching

  Black Lion

  1966

• Turning Point

  Improvisingartists

  1964

• Turns

  Savoy

  1964

• Syndrome

  Savoy

  1963

• Footloose!

  Savoy

  1963

• Live at the Hillcrest Club (1958)

  Inner City

  1958

• Paul Bley [Emarcy]

  Emarcy

  1954