Carla Bley Sextet

Carla Bley & Steve Swallow - Duets (1988) {Watt–ECM 837 345-2}
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© 1988 Watt Works / ECM Records | WATT/20 / 837 345-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz / Piano / Bass

Carla Bley's band keeps shrinking. In 1971, she recorded Escalator Over The Hill with a cast of dozens; a decade later, she was leading a 10-piece group; after that, it was a sextet. Now, it's just a piano-bass duo with the masterful Steve Swallow. The textures may be thinner, but the ideas are as big and outrageous as ever, and the playing is so accurate it's almost scary.

Carla Bley - Night-Glo (1985) {Watt-ECM WATT16-827 640-2 rel 2000}
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© 1985, 2000 Watt Works / ECM Records | WATT/16 / 827 640-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop

Though Heavy Heart was supposedly the "mellow, sensual" album Carla Bley had in mind, Night-Glo is more like it – a relaxed, easygoing, easy-listening series of compositions that nearly spills over into fuzak. Writing for a basic sextet with an added five-man horn section, most effectively when one color melts gently into another, Bley permits the lazy pina-colada mood to amble undisturbed from track to track.

Carla Bley's band keeps shrinking. In 1971, she recorded Escalator Over The Hill with a cast of dozens; a decade later, she was leading a 10-piece group; after that, it was a sextet. Now, it's just a piano-bass duo with the masterful Steve Swallow. The textures may be thinner, but the ideas are as big and outrageous as ever, and the playing is so accurate it's almost scary.

Steve Swallow - Carla (1987) {Watt Works–ECM 833492-2}
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© 1987 Watt Works / ECM Records | XtraWATT/2 / 833 492-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz / Bass

Electric bassist Steve Swallow performs eight originals on this set, with such witty titles as "Crab Alley," "Fred and Ethel," "Read My Lips" and "Hold It Against Me." Most prominent of the soloists in the sextet is guitarist Hiram Bullock; pianist Larry Willis also gets in some good spots, and Carla Bley on organ mostly adds atmosphere. The group is filled out by drummer Victor Lewis, percussionist Don Alias, and on some cuts three strings. The post-bop music is reasonably unpredictable and, although not essential, holds one's interest.

George Russell Sextet - At The Five Spot (1960) {Verve Elite Edition rel 2000}
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© 1960, 2000 Decca / Verve / UMG | 088 112 287-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Third Stream

This limited-edition CD reissue covers six tracks recorded in the studio (since they obviously omit any of the background noise, and the usual out-of-tune piano heard on live dates recorded at the long defunct New York City nightclub is missing). The band includes trumpeter Al Kiger, trombonist David Baker, tenor saxophonist Dave Young, bassist Chuck Israels, and drummer Joe Hunt, along with Russell's sparse piano. Things kick off with a driving take of Miles Davis' "Sippin' at Bells," which features great interaction among the horns.

George Russell - The Outer View (1962) {Riverside OJCCD-616-2 rel 1991} (featuring Don Ellis)
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© 1962, 1991 Riverside Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-616-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / Trumpet

Composer George Russell's early-'60s Riverside recordings are among his most accessible. For this set (the CD reissue adds an alternate take of the title cut to the original program), Russell and his very impressive sextet (which is comprised of trumpeter Don Ellis, trombonist Garnett Brown, Paul Plummer on tenor, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete La Roca) are challenged by the complex material; even Charlie Parker's blues "Au Privave" is transformed into something new. It is particularly interesting to hear Don Ellis this early in his career. The most famous selection, a very haunting version of "You Are My Sunshine," was singer Sheila Jordan's debut on records.