Paul Bley Trio - Paul Bley (p); Mark Levinson (b); Barry Altschul (dr). Recorded live at "Hildebrandzzal", Haarlem, NL, 4.11.1966.
The most relevant stages in Paul Bley’s musical works were however his trio formations. The bassists Steve Swallow, Eddie Gomez, Kent Carter or Mark Levinson and the drummers Pete LaRoca, Barry Altschul or Paul Motian played with him. This live recording at a concert in Haarlem, Holland is a good example at the "mastery" at a Paul Bley trio.
Ballads, which really seems to make ballads out of ballads, has been considered both worthy of hanging on the museum wall alongside the other masterpieces and being accorded special merit as the jazz record most used for background music. Since no less a genius than the great French composer Erik Satie invented the concept of background music, this might not be such a contradiction or insult. Only the short "Circles" invites a real comparison with the piano music of Satie; elsewhere you're in extremely extended territory, Paul Bley's desire to play the slowest music in history meshing with a new style of rhythm section accompaniment that sounds like everything from tuning the drums to adjusting the drapes.