The plot thickened when Bley moved to California in 1957 and began holding down a steady engagement at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles, where he was recorded in 1958 with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins. At this stage of his career, Paul Bley was an inspired, extremely adept bop pianist whose first decisively innovative period was just about to commence. In 1954 he led three different recording sessions with bassists Peter Ind and Percy Heath, and drummer Alan Levitt. The young pianist's constant interaction with archetypal and influential musicians was phenomenal he also sat in with trumpeter Chet Baker and saxophonist Lester Young. His first studio recording date took place in November 1953 with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Art Blakey. Paul Bley's earliest known recordings survive as soundtracks from Canadian television the first was in 1950 with tenor saxophonist Brew Moore and the second in February 1953 with Charlie Parker, special invited guest of the Montreal Jazz Workshop, an artist-run organization Bley helped to establish. While he didn't issue nearly as much (comparatively, at least) under his own name for the remainder of his life, Bley was an active collaborator and sideman, working with everyone from Mario Pavone and Andreas Willers to Benjamin Koppel and Jakob Bro, while his discography as both leader and sideman saw many titles reissued. The latter grouping toured extensively and in 2000 issued Sankt Gerold Variations on ECM. He toured constantly, recorded often, and took part in several historic recordings including Annette, with Franz Koglmann and Peacock, and Time Will Tell, with Barre Phillips and Evan Parker. The 1990s marked Bley's most prolific period as a recording artist. During the 1980s, Bley was restless: he recorded for acclaimed dates for Soul Note, SteepleChase (including a duo-led set with Chet Baker entitled Diane), ECM, and Owl. He also hung out at Lennie Tristano's residential studio, absorbing ideas. While enrolled at Juilliard, he played in a group with trumpeter Donald Byrd, saxophonist Jackie McLean, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor. The following year, Bley continued his musical education at the Juilliard School in New York while gigging in the clubs with trumpeter Roy Eldridge, trombonist Bill Harris, and saxophonists Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins, and Charlie Parker. Already a skilled pianist, he landed a steady gig at the Alberta Lounge soon after Oscar Peterson left to begin working for Norman Granz in 1949. Before long, Hy "Buzzy" Bley was sitting in with jazz bands and had formed his own group. A violin prodigy at five, he began playing piano at eight and studied at the McGill Conservatorium, earning his diploma at age 11. Hyman Paul Bley was born in Montreal, Canada, on November 10, 1932. The final two recordings credited to Bley as a leader were solo offerings: the studio album About Time, in 2007, and Play Blue (Oslo Concert), recorded in 2008 but unissued until 2014. Bley began the 21st century as active as he had left the 20th, working as a collaborator with Kenny Millions, Mario Pavone, and a young Jakob Bro. He took part in several historic dates, including Annette with Franz Koglmann and Gary Peacock, Memoirs with Charlie Haden and Motian, a pair of ECM trio dates with Barre Phillips and Evan Parker ( Time Will Tell and Sankt Gerold Variations), and Not Two, Not One with Peacock and Motian. Bley was prolific in the 1990s as a leader and as a collaborator. He also resumed working with Giuffre during the late part of the decade and into the early '80s. In the early '70s, Bley issued the piano solo offering Open, To Love - it remains his most prophetic and lyrical solo offering, laying out the juxtapositions for pointillism and space that would mark his career. Joy from 1968, the pianist became familiar to many American jazz fans. His three dates with Jimmy Giuffre's trio, most notably 1961's Free Fall, were landmark studies in vanguard modalism. Even a cursory overview of Bley's life and work can be pleasantly overwhelming, for he is among the most heavily recorded of all jazz pianists and his story is inextricably intertwined with the evolution of modern jazz during the second half of the 20th century. This approach places him in league with such diverse artists as Red Garland, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard, Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, and Marilyn Crispell. Pianist Paul Bley took the styles and techniques associated with Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Bill Evans to new levels of creative experimentation, becoming an indispensable force in modern music by combining the best elements in bop and early modern jazz with extended free improvisation and procedural dynamics often found in 20th-century chamber music.
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