Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. She played a key role in the free jazz movement of the 1960s. She became well-known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill, which was released as a triple LP set. She also wrote a book of compositions that many artists performed, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, Robert Wyatt, John Scofield, and her former husband, Paul Bley. Carla Bley helped create independent record labels owned by artists. She recorded more than two dozen albums between 1966 and 2019.
Early life
Carla Bley was born in Oakland, California, in 1936, to Swedish parents. Her father, Emil Borg, was a piano teacher and church choir director. He encouraged her to sing and play the piano. Her mother, Arline Anderson, died of a heart attack when Bley was eight years old. At fourteen, she stopped attending church and focused on roller skating. At seventeen, she moved to New York City and worked as a cigarette girl at Birdland. There, she met jazz pianist Paul Bley, who encouraged her to start composing. She traveled with him under the name Karen Borg before changing her name to Carla Borg in 1957. She married Paul Bley that same year and took his last name. They later divorced. Carla Bley kept the surname professionally after the divorce.
Career
Carla Bley's compositions were recorded by several musicians. George Russell included "Bent Eagle" on his 1960 album Stratusphunk. Jimmy Giuffre recorded "Ictus" on his album Thesis. Paul Bley's album Barrage featured only her original works. Bley considered herself primarily a composer, stating she was 99% a writer and 1% a pianist.
In 1964, she helped organize the Jazz Composers Guild, which united creative musicians in New York. She later worked closely with Michael Mantler, and they had a daughter, Karen Mantler, who became a musician. Bley and Mantler were married from 1965 to 1991. Together, they co-led the Jazz Composers' Orchestra and founded the JCOA record label. This label released important recordings by artists like Clifford Thornton, Don Cherry, and Roswell Rudd, as well as Bley's major work Escalator Over The Hill and Mantler's The Jazz Composer's Orchestra LPs. Bley and Mantler were among the first to create independent record labels owned by artists. They also started WATT Records and the now-closed New Music Distribution Service, which focused on small labels that released recordings of "creative improvised music."
Bley wrote music for bassist Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and composed A Genuine Tong Funeral for vibraphonist Gary Burton. She also worked with artists such as Jack Bruce, Robert Wyatt, and Nick Mason, the drummer for the rock band Pink Floyd. Mason's solo album Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports was entirely written by Bley and featured many of her regular musicians. Brian Olewnick of AllMusic noted that the album was essentially a Carla Bley project.
Wolfgang Sandner, writing for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, described Bley as someone who inspired others, helped develop ideas, and encouraged creativity. He noted her role in challenging traditional musical techniques and avoiding unnecessary complexity.
Later life and death
Pauline Bley continued to record often with her large group, which included Lew Soloff from Blood, Sweat & Tears, and with several smaller groups, especially the Lost Chords.
After her marriage to Mantler ended, she began a relationship with bassist Steve Swallow.
In 2005, she helped arrange the music for and performed on Charlie Haden's latest Liberation Music Orchestra tour and recording, Not in Our Name.
Her final album, Life Goes On, was released in 2020.
In 2018, Bley was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died at home in Willow, New York, on October 17, 2023, at the age of 87.
Awards
In 1972, Bley was given a Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition. In 2009, she was honored with the German Jazz Trophy "A Life for Jazz." In 2015, Bley was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award.