Search - Paul Bley :: Solo in Mondsee (Ocrd)

Solo in Mondsee is the first solo piano album from Paul Bley on ECM in 35 years! It is the belated `sequel' to 1972's innovative and enduring Open, To Love and is being released in Bley's 75th year. On this creative and profound improvised recital, Bley develops a fascinating program. Kaleidoscopicallysplintered melodies, distant memories of standards, abstractions of the blues and spontaneous free playing are some of the subjects of the "Mondsee Variations." Simply put, Paul Bley (b 1932) is one of the most influential pianists in the entire history of jazz. While still in his twenties he played with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey. He also introduced the talents of Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins to the jazz world with his late 1950s quintet. Among the first artists to appear on ECM, Bley's work was also a major influence on the development of ECM's "aesthetic," as well as almost all of the pianists on the label - from Keith Jarrett to Christian Wallumrød, from Marilyn Crispell to Jon Balke. He has performed with numerous ECM artists, most notably Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. This all-star trio will be performing at New York's famed Birdland in late August, with a new studio album to be recorded as well.