Search - Paul Bley :: In the Evenings Out There

In the Evenings Out There
Paul Bley
In the Evenings Out There
Genres: Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

Pianist Paul Bley was touring Scandinavia with a quartet made up of longtime associate Gary Peacock on bass and two brilliant British musicians, drummer Tony Oxley and John Surman on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, w...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Paul Bley
Title: In the Evenings Out There
Members Wishing: 4
Total Copies: 0
Label: Ecm Import
Release Date: 3/7/2000
Album Type: Import
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Styles: Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Modern Postbebop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 731451746925

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Pianist Paul Bley was touring Scandinavia with a quartet made up of longtime associate Gary Peacock on bass and two brilliant British musicians, drummer Tony Oxley and John Surman on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, when they made this Oslo recording in 1991. Rather than a conventionally organized quartet session, the CD consists of seven largely improvised solos, three duets, and two tracks--the collectively improvised "Interface" and Surman's "Article Four"--with the full quartet. Even more unusual is the frequent emphasis on bass frequencies and slow, even solemn, tempos. Only extraordinary musicians could keep such a format interesting, and these four do, exploring room resonance with almost ceremonial levels of concentration. On his duets with Bley and Peacock, Oxley presses drumming to its sonic limit, combining erratic flurries on high-pitched drums with scraped cymbals, while Peacock combines guitar-like fluency with rare, expressive depth on his two solo pieces. Bley contributes four fascinating, varied solos, and Surman shows rare mastery of his low-pitched reeds. It's a long and slow conversation, but it sheds light on profound topics. --Stuart Broomer

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CD Reviews

Moody and atmospheric
Douglas T Martin | Alpharetta, GA USA | 02/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

""In the Evenings Out There" is a companion CD to John Surman's 1992 release "Adventure Playground". On that recording Surman worked with a powerful group - Paul Bley (piano), Gary Peacock (bass), and Tony Oxley (drums) - that was divided into various configurations of duos and trios to accompany Surman. "Evenings" was recorded at the same sessions and released under the names of all four musicians; it usually gets filed under "Bley" since his name is first on the list. And it should be because impressionistic pianist Bley gets the most playing time with four solo works.Surman gives a solo baritone recital on "Alignment". Tony Oxley and Gary Peacock team up for the powerful and abstact "Speak Easy"; John Surman joins them on bass clarinet for the rumbling "Article Four"; Bley joins that piece five minutes into it. The quartet only plays one other song together, "Interface". Peacock gets two solo pieces, "Portrait of a Silence" and "Tomorrow Today", that show off his skills as a composer and performer. Drummer Tony Oxley, who often sounds like several percussionists playing together at once, gets a sort-of solo piece, "Spec-u-lay-ting" with some discrete colorations from Paul Bley. Peacock and Bley team up for "Fair Share" which starts out with a catchy melody then becomes more subdued and meditative. And that kind of sums up the nature of this recording; songs start off one way and become something else, players enter and exit as needed.A very quiet recording considering the background of the four musicians. Bley is a longtime interpreter of Ornette Coleman songs - and had the original Ornette Coleman quartet as his back-up band in the 50's. Gary Peacock played with Albert Ayler; John Surman's late 60's trio explored Coltrane's turf. And Tony Oxley has collaborated often with iconoclastic guitarist Derek Bailey. Everybody plays a little more quietly than usual (for Oxley, much more quietly); it's "out there" but it's relaxing as well. Recommended for those who like to listen beyond the mainstream."