A magnificent tribute to the music of Carla Bley in 12 arrangements of Bley's early songbook, performed by a trio led by Finnish pianist and band leader Iro Haarla, with long-time associate Ulf Krokfors on double bass and free jazz legend and Bley associate, drummer Barry Altschul, in a heartfelt, lyrical and refined approach to Bley's elegant compositions.
Includes an attached 35 page color booklet with photos and essays about the music, about Carla Bley, and about the artists.
UPC: 6430015280540
Label: Tum Catalog ID: TUM 54 Squidco Product Code: 26649
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2018 Country: Finland Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel w/ booklet Recorded at Finnvox in Helsinki, Finland, on November 11th, 2015, by Risto Hemmi.
"Around Again - The Music of Carla Bley presents a collection of composer and pianist Carla Bley's compositions in new interpretations by pianist Iro Haarla, bassist Ulf Krokfors and drummer Barry Altschul. While the recording continues the longstanding collaborations of Iro Haarla and Ulf Krokfors, it also introduces in the mix Barry Altschul, who originally recorded many of the featured compositions with pianist Paul Bley's trio more than 50 years ago."-Tum
"At one time the Finnish pianist/harpist/composer Iro Haarla was best known as a collaborator of drummer Edward Vesala (1945-1999). Her own career blossomed in the new millennium, beginning with Penguin Beguine (TUM Records, 2005) followed by multiple releases on ECM and TUM Records, including Northbound (ECM, 2006), Vespers (ECM, 2011), Kirkastus (TUM, 2014), a daring duo outing with saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen, and a majestic orchestral outing, Ante Lucem (ECM, 2016), that didn't seem to get nearly the recognition it deserved.
On Around Again: The Music of Carla Bley Haarla has convened a superb piano trio, featuring her long time collaborator, bassist Ulf Krokfors, and a new teammate, drummer Barry Altschul, who played in the early 1960s in the Paul Bley piano trio, interpreting many of the compelling and uncommon compositions of Carla Bley.
In some ways, Haarla and Carla Bley seem to fit into the kindred souls groove. Both came to positions of prominence and distinction in an art form that was mostly a man's world; both spent time as jazz artists in the shadows of men-though in part perhaps by choice: Bley has always been more concentrated on composition over performance, and Paul Bley garnered maybe more attention than she for his renditions of her tunes; while Haarla began as a supporter of Vesala's star before her own began to rise brightly over the horizon. And both write enchantingly amorphous compositions.
The music presented here by Iro Haarla and her trio is from Carla Bley's early songbook. Four of the tunes are taken from Paul Bley's Closer (ESP-Disk, 1965). The music is supremely melodic-though not in a walking-away-whistling-the-tune fashion, but more in a loosely-structured, roaming with-no-destination-in-mind way. "Ida Lupino," one of Carla Bley's most covered compositions, sounds like a solemn prayer. "Closer" feels like a soundtrack to film about loss and confusion. "And Now, The Queen" has a restrained and patient celebratory mood. "Start" feels like a frantic search.
The trio dynamic, from start-to-finish, is superb, as interactive, as push-and-pull, elbow-each-other, dance-with-each-other as they come. It can be compared with the best of them.
The set's closer, "Jesus Maria," one of Carla Bley's earliest compositions, was recorded by the Jimmy Giuffre 3 on Fusion (Verve, 1961). It speaks here with a sense of a tranquility, a shaping of-with a soft sonic clay-a spiritually majestic mood."-Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Includes an attached 35 page color booklet with photos and essays about the music, about Carla Bley, and about the artists.