CARLA BLEY

The music on this album falls somewhere in between big band and fusion, with an emphasis on horns. Terry Adams (NRBQ) on piano and Eugene Chadbourne on guitars add a bit of rock to the mix.

440 begins the album, with the band warming up, and then jamming in (you guessed it) the key of A. The piece bears a slight resemblance to The Piano Lesson on the later "I Hate To Sing" album, and it really turns into some fine soloing.

On Jesus Maria And Other Spanish Strains, the band goes through a number of Spanish themes. The best part is where Gary Windo imitates a childs voices (I think he's siging through the mouthpiece of his sax or clarinet, but I can't be sure).

The greatest tracks are the Musique Mecanique trio. The first starts with random tones and noises, and builds, machine-like into a frenzy. Bley's toy piano, her daughter karen mantler's glockenspiel, and Chadbourne's walkie-talkie noises help make this song amazing.

The absolute best song, and still my favorite Bley tune ever is the third part, a lumbering heavy track, which features the band imitating a skipping record (To you kids out there, a record is a vinyl disk, with music cut into spiral grooves. When a piece of dust got caught in a groove, the needle that turned the grooves into sound could get bumped back one groove, causing a weird skipping rhythmic sound). It must be heard.

The standout track is Wrong Key Donkey, the most fusion-filled song on the album. It's a hot electric jam, the only piece here that evokes Soft Machine in any manner. Rose And Sad Song and Drinking Music are wonderful as well. They are both composed big band pieces, that show off Bley's avant garde writing style. It's needless to say that the horn solos are exquisite.

The final track, Spangled Banner Minor And Other Patriotic Songs is hit or miss. It begins with a arrangement of the American national anthem played in a minor key (Who would have guessed from the title?), and devolves into a melange of well known (by us Americans,at least) tunes, many played over each other, some only slightly fleeting in and out of the song. It's an awkward song, that can be irritating if you are not in the right mood.

Three great songs, and one iffy one? Just barely makes 4 stars.

Half was recorded live in concert, the other half live in a studio, much of the album showcases the band's ...errrr... singing ability.

The LP (yes, I only have the record - the CD apparently has extra material) begins with Bley herself singing about her impending Murder (don't worry, the police save her). The song is creepy and spooky, with an intentionally silly overblown ending. Pianist Arturo O'Farrill get to sing about wanting a vocal part that isn't Very Very Simple. It's a great song, but worth it for the drum solo alone. Then, drummer D. Sharpe gets to tell us that I Hate To Sing. It's priceless.

Side two is mostly instrumental, with The Piano Lesson, which builds from the band warming up into a raucus work made up of scales and etudes. The Lone Arranger follows, a loping piece depicting the American west. And Battleship, a wonderful work of progressive big band closes out the album.

While this album is just barely fusion, it is fantastic.

This somewhat early album from Carla Bley is one of her excursions into the realm of musical theater. The words were written by Paul Haines. While I must admit that I enjoy the lyrics in the context of each song, I never had the patience to attempt to figure out what is going on in the story.

Musically, Bley divides her big band into subsets, with some players bleeding over into different groupings. Primarily, there's the big band. Her compositions for the group are mostly extremely avant garde, often reminding me of groups like Henry Cow or the Art Bears, but with more horns. But there are many tracks that feature John McLaughlin on guitar, Jack Bruce on bass, Paul Motian on drums, with Bley on keyboards. These tracks are electric fusion jams that electrify the album.

Other notables on the album, aside from a number of well known jazz greats, are Don Preston (around the end of his Mothers of Invention tenure) and, believe it or not, Linda Ronstadt.

This album is a treat for those with an adventurous spirit.