Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Paul Bley Quintet - Barrage (1964)



What a difference in an artist's development a decade makes. Released originally in 1964, Paul Bley's Barrage is a creative, thoroughly satisfying free-jazz outing. For these six compositions, all by Carla Bley, the leader is joined by drummer Milford Graves, bassist Eddie Gomez, trumpeter Dewey Johnson and saxophonist Marshall Allen (of the Sun Ra Arkestra) for improvisations of an intense yet deeply considered nature.

In his piano playing, Bley seems to draw inspiration from Cecil Taylor, while the skittering dialogues between the instruments owe a debt to Ornette Coleman's early ensemble work. Yet there is something quite fresh and distinctive about the music on Barrage, thanks largely to the distinctive voices of each player, and the way these voices play off each other in skilled, thrilling ways.

personnel:

Paul Bley (piano); Marshall Allen (alto saxophone); Dewey Johnson (trumpet); Eddie Gomez (bass); Milford Graves (percussion)

track listing:

1. Batterie
2. Ictus
3. And Now the Queen
4. Around Again
5. Walking Woman
6. Barrage

rec. in NYC October 20, 1964

5 comments:

Rafaelian said...

Great post, thanks!

Rab Hines said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Neroon001 said...

I would think that this is a rare recording considering Marshall Allen is on the date.Never would associate Paul Bley with Cecil Taylor though everything that I have heard from him ( not a lot but better than a few recordings )has been mellow if put side by side with Taylor,but then again this was recorded in 1964 so I am looking forward to listening to this recording thank you very much for sharing this

fredonline said...

Thanks a lot for this one d3lta.
By the way i'd like to know the PW to extract files - Thanks again ;o)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post... but i can't open the file... Do you have the password??? please... Could you send me at: manuelopez60@gmail.com

Thank you...
Manuel
Venezuela