REPORT: With deep regret, the National Endowment for the Arts mourns the passing of a distinguished composer….
With deep regret, the National Endowment for the Arts mourns the passing of Carla Bley, a distinguished composer, arranger, bandleader, and keyboardist who was honored with a 2015 NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the highest recognition in jazz. Over the past 50 years, Bley emerged as one of the foremost composers, crafting music for a variety of ensembles, including big bands, choirs, chamber orchestras, and small combos. Her compositions showcased a broad range and a delightful sense of humor, earning her acclaim not only within jazz but also leading to collaborations outside the genre, such as with Jack Bruce, Robert Wyatt, and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd.
In a 2015 interview with the NEA, Bley detailed her disciplined approach to composing, describing it as a daily routine she adhered to unless traveling. She emphasized her commitment to the creative process, stating that there was no room for excuses like lacking inspiration or not feeling like working.
Bley’s introduction to music came through her father, Emil Borg, a church organist and piano teacher, who exposed her to the art form at a young age. After moving to New York at 17 and working at Birdland, a jazz club, she married pianist Paul Bley in 1957. Immersed in the city’s vibrant jazz scene, she began composing, with Paul Bley and other musicians recording her works. In 1964, she and her second husband, trumpeter Michael Mantler, established the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association, an independent label focusing on avant-garde jazz, exemplified by Bley’s collaboration with poet Paul Haines on the groundbreaking “Escalator over the Hill.”
Bley’s influence expanded through notable recordings like Gary Burton’s “A Genuine Tong Funeral” and Charlie Haden’s “The Liberation Music Orchestra.” She ventured beyond jazz, contributing to diverse projects such as joining Jack Bruce’s band, composing for Nick Mason’s “Fictitious Sports” in 1981, and creating the soundtrack for the 1985 film “Mortelle Randonnée.” In 1997, a live production of “Escalator over the Hill” was staged in Germany and subsequently toured Europe in the following year.
