Paul Bley
| Paul Bley | |
|---|---|
Paul Bley recording solo piano in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hyman Paul Bley |
| Born |
November 10, 1932 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | January 3, 2016 (aged 83) Stuart, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Free jazz, avant-garde jazz, post bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Associated acts | Barry Altschul, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Giuffre, Charlie Haden, Charles Mingus, Paul Motian, Annette Peacock, Gary Peacock, Sonny Rollins, Steve Swallow |
| Website | improvart.com/bley/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Acoustic Piano, Bösendorfer, Steinway, Moog synthesizer, ARP synthesizer, Fender Rhodes | |
Hyman Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and Arp audio synthesizers. Bley was a long-time resident of the United States. His music has been described by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times as "deeply original and aesthetically aggressive." Bley's prolific output includes influential recordings from the 1950s through to his solo piano records of the 2000s.
Bley was born in Montreal, Quebec, on November 10, 1932. His adoptive parents were Betty Marcovitch, an immigrant from Romania, and Joe Bley, owner of an embroidery factory. However, in 1993 a relative from the New York branch of the Bley family walked into Sweet Basil in NYC and informed him that his father was actually his biological parent. At age five Bley studied violin, but at age seven he decided to switch to the piano. By eleven he received a junior diploma from the McGill Conservatory in Montreal. At thirteen he formed a band which played at summer resorts in Ste. Agathe, Quebec. As a teenager he played with touring American bands, including Al Cowan's Tramp Band. In 1949, when Bley was starting his senior year of high school, Oscar Peterson asked Bley to fulfill his contract at the Alberta Lounge in Montreal. The next year Bley left Montreal for New York City and Juilliard.
In the 1951, on a return trip to Montreal, Bley organized the Jazz Workshop with a group of Montreal musicians. In 1953 Bley invited the bebop alto saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker to the Jazz Workshop, where he played and recorded with him. When Bley returned to New York City he hired Jackie McLean, Al Levitt and Doug Watkins to play an extended gig at the Copa City on Long Island. In 1953 the Shaw Agency booked Bley and his trio to tour with Lester Young, billed as "Lester Young and the Paul Bley Trio" in ads. He also performed with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster at that time. He then conducted for bassist Charles Mingus on the Charles Mingus and His Orchestra album. Additionally, in 1953, Mingus produced the Introducing Paul Bley album for his label, Debut Records with Mingus on bass and drummer Art Blakey .[null [4]] (In 1960 Bley recorded again with the Charles Mingus Group.)
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