Jazz | Pint | Bley

Tonight I’m listening to the most recent addition to my Paul Bley stash. Another recent reissue from HatHut on their Ezzthetics imprint – ‘Paul Bley Trios Play Annette Peacock Revisited’ comprised of two sessions from 1966 and 1968 featuring Mark Levinson (b) and Barry Altschul (d) and Gary Peacock (b) and Billy Elgart (d) respectively. It combines tracks from ‘Ramblin’, ‘Blood’, and ‘Mr Joy’ – all albums I don’t have so I thought, “why not?” (maybe eventually I’ll pick them up individually but this incomplete compilation will do for now). The compositions and approach from the trio – spacious, introspective, stark - is a departure from the norm at the time. Occasionally things get ramped up (“Blood”, "Kid Dynamite") but there’s a focused, quiet intensity in this music that appeals to me. Bley is never far off the rotation, so I'll no doubt "Revisited" will be revisited. Bley really set the standard for that type of approach at the piano and I’ve wondered how I could bring some of this to my saxophone playing – it’s in there somewhere, but more of than not, notes have a habit of getting in the way.

I first heard Bley on recordings by the Jimmy Giuffre trio (one of my favourite groups) and shortly after on 'Sonny Meets Hawk' courtesy of Norman Meehan, whose book ‘Time Will Tell’ I’ve been dipping in and out of over the last week or so too. It’s an entertaining read and Bley is not afraid of sharing his thoughts. I’d like to re-read Bley’s autobiography ‘Stopping Time’ (which I first read not long after hearing my introduction to his recordings) but it looks to be out of print and I haven’t managed to find a nicely priced copy.

I managed to hear Bley live once, squeezing in last minute at the Blue Note to hear him in duo with Charlie Haden (the only him I heard him too). Wasn’t the greatest seat in the house.. crammed into the bar, I could barely see either of them and it was kind of noisy (I questioned why these people even bothered going). But, I did get to hear them even if in somewhat non-ideal settings.

Accompanied on this cool spring evening by Three Boys Oyster Stout (I thought the stoneware was appropriate for the season).