About

Andando el Tiempo features new music of wide emotional compass by Carla Bley, and underlines her originality and resourcefulness as a jazz composer. “Saints Alive!” sets up animated conversations between the participants with striking statements from Steve Swallow’s bass guitar and Andy Sheppard’s soprano sax. The stately “Naked Bridges/Diving Brides” draws inspiration from Mendelssohn and the poetry of Paul Haines. And the powerful three part title composition – which addresses the trials and tribulations of recovery from addiction - moves through sorrow to hopefulness and joy. The trio with Sheppard and Swallow has been an ideal vehicle for Carla’s writing for more than 20 years and also provides one of the best contexts for her unique piano playing. Like the critically lauded ECM album Trios (2012), Andando el Tiempo was recorded at Lugano’s RSI Studio and produced by Manfred Eicher.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Carla Bley  Piano

Andy Sheppard  Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone

Steve Swallow  Bass

“As ever, Bley’s sense of melodic line and thematic structure drives the music, whether through the Spanish-tinged narrative of the title suite or the witty allusions of the Mendelssohneque wedding tune. And she more than fulfills her improvisational duties, emphasizing her often-underused gifts as a pianist. Indeed, her playing is so strong that there are times when the music feels not so much charted as collectively improvised.”

J.D. Considine, Downbeat (Five stars)

“Tough as it is to believe Carla Bley is now 80 years old, it’s not hard at all to hear that her questing spirit is undiminished on this album of new work. With saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Steve swallow – her go-to musical partners of 20 years – by her side, Bley continues to navigate through knotty chord structures, explore the elasticity of time and tease out the nuanceds of her own compositions, which seem at first to be pure products of the cerebrum but soon reveal a tremendous depth of feeling.”

Mac Randall, Jazz Times

“Her coolly ravishing new album, ‘Andando el Tiempo’ (‘In the Course of Time’) […] features a handful of inventions for her longtime trio with Mr. Swallow and the saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Chamberlike and willowy, suffused with melancholy, it reflects her sly noncompliance with jazz and classical conventions, which has been a prevalent theme of her half-century career.”

Nate Chinen, The New York Times

- Press Release

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