Correspondence: Carla Bley And The Beeb

Not that Rifftides intends to become a clearing house for performance announcements, but readers do sometimes send valuable listening information. Jack Kenny writes from London:

You might want to alert your readers to this. The London Jazz Festival has just finished. I went to to the Carla concert last week and it is broadcast tomorrow. It will be online all next week on the BBC iPlayer.

Sadly for your American readers Carla seems to perform more in Europe
than she does in the States.

The following is a quote from the BBC site.

Jez Nelson presents a concert given by American pianist, bandleader and
composer Carla Bley as part of the 2009 London Jazz Festival. Bringing
her long-standing quartet The Lost Chords to the Queen Elizabeth Hall,
she combines dexterous musicianship with humorous and original
compositions. The group features renowned British saxophonist Andy
Sheppard, with leading American jazz musicians Steve Swallow on bass
and Billy Drummond on drums.

Bley's prolific career has spanned four decades and many eclectic projects including Escalator over the Hill, a jazz opera that cemented her reputation as a composer. Bley also pioneered the movement towards independent artist-owned record labels by releasing and distributing her own music in the 1970s. In 2003, The Lost Chords formed out of a longstanding duo project with Steve Swallow, combining four of the major names in contemporary creative improvisation. For details of Radio 3's coverage of the London Jazz Festival go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/londonjazzfestival/2009/

The Rifftides staff thanks Mr. Kenny.

By Coincidence...

...YouTube has just posted Bley's Lost Chords in performance at Vienna's splendid Porgy & Bess club. Audio quality is acceptable. The zoom and attempts at focus during Steve Swallow's solo may induce mild seasickness but, hey, with YouTube you get what you pay for. You can always close your eyes. This was November 12.