7 Jan 2016


PAUL BLEY IN MEMORIAM

Se ha ido Paul Bley. Se ha ido un GIGANTE. 
Desde que tengo uso de razón musical 
siempre he llevado como mínimo un par de discos 
de Paul Bley encima. 
Realmente no tengo palabras para agradecer 
lo que ha significado en todo lo que hago 
(tanto en lo musical como en lo visual), 
en como miro al mundo… 
Y por eso le recuerdo con mis pinceles y texturas… 
Ha sido el gran Matt Shipp el que sí que ha encontrado las palabras:
The death of the visionary pianist/ improviser 
Paul Bley leaves a big hole in the jazz universe. 
Bley, a fearless improviser with grace, bite, humor, and knowledge, 
will be remembered for the ability to empty his self 
of all preconceptions and impediments before sitting down at the instrument, 
and for the ability to take his own specific 
approach and language and to morph it into something 
that works with whatever the environment 
and/or musicians that are in the ambient 
-- and for the ability to sit at any piano [and they all have different personalities] 
and except for being extremely stylized, 
he could pull out the personality of that 
particular piano while still sounding like himself.
Paul, though studied, was completely naturalistic 
and organic in his musical conception. 
He had a mindset that was always in the moment, 
and if so-called history ever came through in his playing, 
it was more a function of the natural flow of language 
than any ostentatious show of jazz knowledge.
His music breathed, flowed, sang, and danced. 
He spanned so many movements: 
from post-bop sessions with Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins 
[Bley's style on this record is the template for the Keith Jarrett trio sound] 
to the Third Stream austerity of the Jimmy Giuffre Three 
to his collaboration with free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman 
to his project with John Gilmore on the 
Improvising Artists label -- and on and on. 
He just cared about sitting down at the piano 
-- making music and being honest in his expression. 
His style (if you want to use that term) is open at the top, 
and over his career it morphed into 
many fascinating asides and different angles, 
being more an open sound and facility that had 
minor transformations based on what was before him. 
He also created a personality about how he went 
about his business in the music industry 
that was just as fascinating as his playing. 
Bley was a completely honest artist 
who did not give a fuck about all the fashion 
and distracting forces that can exist in all this. 

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