Paul Bley Nothing to Declare

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.

Finding any previously unreleased Paul Bley material is a wonderful gift. I'm just hoping for more. Much of this live for radio recording was recoded in a studio later (or perhaps just prior) to the European tour but it is great to hear the variations. Paul Bley played many of the same pieces over and over but never the same way twice.

This recording features the legendary trio of pianist Paul Bley, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Barry Altschul from near the beginning of Bley's most innovative and creatively fertile period. For ESP-Disk's 50th Anniversary, they have remastered from the original tape.

On this unusual album, pianist Paul Bley's 1964 trio (with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian) is joined by tenor-saxophonist John Gilmore during his brief hiatus from Sun Ra's Arkestra. Unissued at the time (five of the eight numbers made their debut on Bley's IAI label), the music is explorative but not as free as one might expect. Best-known among the six Carla Bley originals (which are joined by Paul's "Turns") is the lyrical "Ida Lupino" which is heard in two versions. The music overall is quite stimulating and a bit offbeat, a reflection of Paul Bley's adventurous spirit.