Oct 17, 2023 3:36 PM
Carla Bley, Provocative Composer-Pianist, Dies at Age 87
With her iconic bangs, sharp features and free-flowing sense of the absurd, Carla Bley, who died Oct. 17 of brain…
Drummer and bandleader Antonio Sánchez recently performed music touching on the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in Canada at the International Festival de Jazz de Montreal.
(Photo: Courtesy Antonio Sánchez)But because of my dual citizenship, I think I have an obligation to see things from both sides, and there is a migratory crisis. But this isn’t the way to take care of it. And so my obligation becomes being outspoken about that. And I’m surprised how many jazz musicians are not speaking about it. I know many of them want to stay apolitical, but to me there is a very bright line right now between what’s right and what’s wrong.
Given the blunt criticism of Trump, is it safe to assume you’ll be staying on a politically conscious track for a while?
Well, when Bad Hombre came about, I didn’t know what it was going to be, and that was true of Lines In The Sand as well. I already know what the next one will be, though. It will be Bad Hombre, Volume 2, but super, super different in its conception.
I do want to continue in this political vein, but in this project, I’m asking different singers that I admire to provide me with a tune that has the theatric approach that I’m looking for. Something that has to do with human rights, human dignity or immigration specifically. Other than that, I don’t tell them what to do. I just ask them to provide me with vocals and a basic accompaniment, like a click track or something. Then I start building all the production around them. I chop it up, repeat this section later, all this kind of thing. Although they’re not my tunes, I produce them as though they were.
I’ve only finished one track so far, with an incredible singer from Mexico who only gave me her voice and cuatro, this little guitar, and that’s it. After I produced it, it came out so good that I realized I wanted to do the whole album like that.
Topicality aside, it sounds like Bad Hombre is developing into a full-blown persona.
You know what, I feel like Bad Hombre has allowed me to have an alter-ego that lets me do whatever the hell I want. It doesn’t have to be jazz, it doesn’t have to be anything. I can experiment with any idea. I’m fooling around with recordings of some bandas, brass bands from Mexico, and putting some weird crazy drums on top of that.
That’s what I want the Bad Hombre thing to be. It tickles my creative sense in a way that nothing has before. DB
Bley told DownBeat in 1984: “I’m just a composer, and I use jazz musicians because they’re smarter, and they can save your ass in a bad situation. … I need all the help I can get.”
Oct 17, 2023 3:36 PM
With her iconic bangs, sharp features and free-flowing sense of the absurd, Carla Bley, who died Oct. 17 of brain…
Nov 22, 2023 12:33 PM
Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile topped a daunting list of amazing music.
Samara Joy, Linger Awhile (VERVE) … 1,910
…
“Blue Note music has been such an integral part of my musical and life experience for so long,” says Redman. “It’s surreal to be a part of this lineage.”
Oct 10, 2023 1:13 PM
“It just occurred to me just the other day,” said Joshua Redman, a bemused expression forming over his face on the…
Bennett had a wealth of material to draw upon, and he had a direct association with much of it.
Oct 31, 2023 1:50 PM
Perhaps no interpreter of American popular song had as long and distinguished a career as Tony Bennett. Yet in his…
The 66th GRAMMY Awards will air live (8–11:30 p.m. ET) on Feb. 4 on CBS Television and stream on Paramount+.
Nov 14, 2023 11:05 AM
The Recording Academy has officially revealed the nominations for the 2024 Grammys, which will take place Feb. 4 at…
