Customer Reviews

Open to Love

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This is a fantastic CD. Recorded in 1972, it includes solo performances of songs Bley had previously recorded and would record again ("Fragments", released in the 80's, includes new interpretations of three of the songs heard here). There are strong similarities to Keith Jarrett's solo work on this CD (it seems probable Jarrett was strongly influenced by Bley). As to the comment another customer made about Bley "not being worthy to fold George Winton's socks", just because they both have released solo piano discs does not mean they have to have the same objectives. Bley has never set out to be a relaxing new age performer, but his work has a beauty and depth of tremendous value for many listeners.

One of my all time favorite jazz CDs. There is no better introduction to Bley's work; this CD is perfect example of how a performer with a distinctly avant-garde style can still capture the type of emotional resonances and accessability that one associates with a more "mainstream" artist like Bill Evans or Brad Mehldau.

This is Bley's first solo album, recorded at around the same time as Keith Jarret recorded Facing You. The comparison is more apt than might first be suspected. Jarrett and Bley both share an uncanny ability to be introspective on the keyboard, but where Jarrett can be exuberant and at times, even a bit vulgar, Bley is always searching and elegant. Bley's work is never about display for it's own sake, but always in deeper service to the music. (Jarrett's music is also like this at his best, but Jarrett records too much and not all of his solo work is of the same quality.)

Bley's version of Ida Lupino is one that I would consider standard, surpassing even that of Gary Burton. He is faithful in the extreme to the composition, but then uses it as a source of development rather than just chord changes. This is true throughout the album. Bley's approach to improvisation is melodic first, with stark spare harmonic fragments in the accompaniment and occasional contrapuntal lines. But the improvisations are structured around melodic fragments contained in the compositions themselves, which give the performances a cohesiveness not found in much free-form playing.

This is not music that should be compared to New Age hacks like George Winston. They are not even in the same league. Winston is a wannabe, Bley is the real deal...requiring more out of a listener than some people obviously want to give. Hang in there with this though. The pleasures are enormous.

I don't know what kind of music connoseur is someone that first compares Bley to Winston, and second in such a way knowing Paul Bley as a decisive figure both for Jazz Avantgarde and modern Piano Trios. This CD is one of the all-time landmarks in jazz-Piano Solo CDs, and Bley shows in a very convincing way all his strengths: his privilleged technique (though he doesn't show off his style is rather elegant), his playing with the piano strings and resonances, his romantic feeling (despite the extrem slow motion), and his mastery at driving different atmospheres in a similar context. If you don't connect with this CD at the first listening, just patience, and you'll get reward!!. Hightlights from the critics: Ida Lupino, Harlem. Personal favourite: Started

Now this is jazz piano playing of the first order. I never tire of playing this recod in my car CD player. Bley is inventive yet not idiosincratic or indulgent. His playing has crystal clear articulation and his variations seem natural and convincing.

For the musical sleuths, the Ida Lupino theme quotes from the tango El Dia Que Me Quieras and in other pieces one hears faint echoes of Gershwin's Summer Time theme and of Falling in Love Again, the tune sung by Marle Dietrich in The Blue Angel, the unforgettable 1930 film by Josef von Sternberg.