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…
The Strut imprint recently announced a forthcoming album by the Sun Ra Arkestra.
(Photo: Strut)Since the 1993 death of keyboardist and bandleader Sun Ra, his Arkestra has continued to navigate space and time with saxophonist Marshall Allen at the helm.
A handful of archival recordings have been issued recently, including Of Abstract Dreams, which Strut released in 2018. But now, the ensemble’s returning with Swirling, another Strut disc being hailed as the Arkestra’s first studio date in about two decades.
The recording, due out Oct. 9, includes “Seductive Fantasy” (a tune Sun Ra first recorded for On Jupiter in 1979) and finds the group performing as it floats in space alongside psychedelic globs and swirling colors, all animated by Chad Van Gaalen. A second song from the album—“Angels And Demons At Play”—was posted July 15. DB
Updated July 15
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…
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