Paul Bley / discography
This discography by pianist Paul Bley (1932-2016) includes his albums under his own name (section 1), a selection of compilations (section 2) as well as other collaborations and his involvement as an accompanist (section 3). Bley participated in 177 recording sessions from 1953 to 2008.
Albums under your own name
| admission | title | Label | Involved musicians / comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Introducing Paul Bley | Debut | Charles Mingus , Art Blakey |
| 1954 | Paul Bley | Wing / EmArcy | Percy Heath / Peter Ind , Al Levitt |
| 1958 | Solemn meditation | GNP | Dave Pike , Charlie Haden , Lennie McBrowne |
| 1958 published in 1976 |
Live at the Hillcrest Club 1958 | Inner City | Ornette Coleman , Don Cherry , Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins . Published in 1976, also called The Fabulous Paul Bley Quintet (America). |
| 1962-1963 | Footloose! | Savoy |
Steve Swallow , Pete LaRoca Republished with additional material under the title Floater or Syndrome |
| 1963 published 1970 |
Paul Bley With Gary Peacock | ECM | Gary Peacock, Paul Motian |
| 1964 | Barrage | ESP disk | Dewey Johnson , Marshall Allen , Eddie Gomez , Milford Graves |
| 1965 | Touching | Debut / Fontana | Kent Carter , Barry Altschul |
| 1965 | Closer | ESP disk | Steve Swallow, Barry Altschul |
| 1966 | Ramblin ' | BYG Actuel | Mark Levinson, Barry Altschul. Published 1969 |
| 1966 | Blood | Fontana | Mark Levinson, Barry Altschul |
| 1966 | In Haarlem - Blood | Polydor | Mark Levinson, Barry Altschul. Published 1967; New edition also as Live In Haarlem |
| 1967 | Ballads | ECM | Mark Levinson / Gary Peacock , Barry Altschul. Published in 1971 |
| 1967 | Virtuoso | Improvising artists | Gary Peacock, Barry Altschul. Published in 1976 |
| 1963-1968 | Paul Bley with Gary Peacock | ECM | Gary Peacock, Paul Motian / Billy Elgart . Published in 1970 |
| 1964–1968 published in 1975 |
Turning point | Improvising artists | John Gilmore , Gary Peacock, Paul Motian, Billy Elgart |
| 1968 | Mr. Joy | Limelight Records | Gary Peacock, Billy Elgart |
| 1968 | Paul Bley Trio - Canada | CBC | Paul Bley, Mario Pavone , Barry Altschul |
| 1970 | The Paul Bley Synthesizer Show | Milestone | Dick Youngstein / Glen Moore / Frank Tusa , Steve Hass / Bobby Moses |
| 1971 | Improvisation | America | Annette Peacock , Han Bennink |
| 1971 | Dual Unity | Freedom | Annette Peacock, Mario Pavone , Lawrence Cook / Han Bennink |
| 1972 | Open to love | ECM | Solo piano |
| 1972 | Paul Bley & Scorpio | Milestone | Dave Holland , Barry Altschul |
| 1973 | Paul Bley / NHØP | SteepleChase | Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen |
| 1974 | Alone, Again | Improvising artists | Solo piano |
| 1974 | Quiet song | Improvising artists | Jimmy Giuffre , Bill Connors |
| 1976 | Japan Suite | Improvising artists | Gary Peacock, Barry Altschul |
| 1977 | Axis | Improvising artists | Solo piano |
| 1983 | Tears | Owl | Solo piano |
| 1983 | Tango Palace | Soul note | Solo piano |
| 1983 | Sonorous | Soul note | George Cross McDonald |
| 1985 | Questions | SteepleChase | Jesper Lundgaard , Aage Tanggaard |
| 1985 | Hot | Soul note | John Scofield , Steve Swallow, Barry Altschul |
| 1985 | My standard | SteepleChase | Jesper Lundgaard, Aage Tanggaard |
| 1985 | Diane | SteepleChase | Chet Baker |
| 1986 | Fragments | ECM | John Surman , Bill Frisell , Paul Motian |
| 1986 | Paul Bley & Jesper Lundgaard Live | SteepleChase | Jesper Lundgaard |
| 1986 | Paul Bley & Jesper Lundgaard Live Again | SteepleChase | Jesper Lundgaard |
| 1987 | Indian summer | SteepleChase | Ron McClure , Barry Altschul |
| 1987 | Notes | Soul note | Paul Motian |
| 1987 | The Paul Bley Quarte | ECM | John Surman, Bill Frisell, Paul Motian |
| 1987 | solo | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 1988 | Live at Sweet Basil | Soul note | John Abercrombie , Red Mitchell , Barry Altschul |
| 1988 | Solo piano | SteepleChase | Solo piano |
| 1988 | The Nearness of You | SteepleChase | Ron McClure , Billy Hart |
| 1989 | Blues for Red | Red | Solo piano |
| 1989 | Rejoicing | SteepleChase | Michal Urbaniak , Ron McClure, Barry Altschul |
| 1989 | The Life of a Trio: Saturday | Owl | Jimmy Guiffre, Steve Swallow |
| 1989 | The Life of a Trio: Sunday | Owl | Jimmy Guiffre, Steve Swallow |
| 1989 | Partners | Owl | Gary Peacock |
| 1989 | BeBopBeBopBeBopBeBop | SteepleChase | Bob Cranshaw , Keith Copeland |
| 1990 | Memoirs | Soul note | Charlie Haden, Paul Motian |
| 1990 published 1995 |
12 (+6) In a Row | Has hat | Hans Koch , Franz Koglmann |
| 1991 | Changing hands | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 1991 | Lyrics | Splasc (H) | Tiziana Ghiglioni |
| 1991 | In the Evenings Out There | ECM | John Surman, Gary Peacock, Tony Oxley |
| 1991 | Paul Plays Carla | SteepleChase | Marc Johnson , Jeff Williams |
| 1992 | Mindset | Soul note | Gary Peacock |
| 1992 | Annette | Has hat | Franz Koglmann, Gary Peacock |
| 1992 | Caravan Suite | SteepleChase | Solo piano |
| 1992 | Homage to Carla | Owl | Solo piano |
| 1992 | Paul Bley at Copenhagen Jazz House | SteepleChase | Solo piano |
| 1993 | Zen Palace | Transheart | Steve Swallow, Paul Motian |
| 1993 published 1997 |
Hands on | Transheart | Solo piano |
| 1993 | If We May | SteepleChase | Jay Anderson , Adam Nussbaum |
| 1993 | Sweet time | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 1993 | Double time | Justin Time | Jane Bunnett |
| 1993 | Know time | Justin Time | Herbie Spanier , Geordie McDonald |
| 1993 | Synth thesis | Postcards | Solo piano and synthesizer |
| 1994 | Time will tell | ECM | Evan Parker , Barre Phillips |
| 1994 published 1998 |
chaos | Soul note | Furio Di Castri , Tony Oxley |
| 1994 | Modern Chant: Inspiration from Gregorian Chant | Venus | David Eyges , Bruce Ditmas |
| 1994 | Outside In | Justin Time | Sonny Greenwich |
| 1994 | Emerald Blue | Venus | David Eyges, Bruce Ditmas |
| 1994 | Speachless | SteepleChase | Rich Perry , Jay Anderson, Victor Lewis |
| 1994 | Reality check | SteepleChase | Rich Perry, Jay Anderson, Victor Lewis |
| 1996 published 2000 |
Saint Gerold | ECM | Evan Parker, Barre Phillips |
| 1997 | Jazz'n (E) Motion | RCA Victor | Piano solo |
| 1997 | Notes on Ornette | SteepleChase | Jay Anderson, Jeff Hirshfield |
| 1998 | Not two, not one | ECM | Gary Peacock, Paul Motian |
| 1999 published in 2019 |
When Will the Blues Leave | ECM | With Gary Peacock, Paul Motian |
| 2000 | Basics | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 2001 published 2007 |
Solo in Mondsee | ECM | Solo piano |
| 2003 | Nothing to Declare | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 2007 | About time | Justin Time | Solo piano |
| 2007 | Florida | Ilk | Kresten Osgood |
| 2008 published in 2014 |
Play Blue: Oslo Concert | ECM | Solo piano |
Compilations (selection)
| album | Release | Label | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early trios | 2005 | Fresh Sound Records | Recordings from 1953 and 1954 with Charles Mingus, Percy Heath, Peter Ind, Al Levitt, Art Blakey |
| Circles | 2004 | Milestone Records | Contains material from the Milestone albums The Paul Bley Synthesizer Show and Paul Bley & Scorpio , recordings from 1970–1972. |
| The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note | 2013 | Soul Note, Black Saint | The 9-CD box contains the albums Sonor, Tango Palace, Hot, Notes, Mindset, Live at Sweet Basil, Memoirs, Conversations With a Goose, Chaos . |
Further collaborations and albums as accompanist
This section documents other recordings in which Paul Bley was involved from 1953, including his early sessions as a sideman with Charles Mingus , Ornette Coleman and Don Ellis as well as the recordings with the trio The Jimmy Giuffre 3 and other duo collaborations, such as with Gary Burton , Satoko Fujii , Keshavan Maslak and Andreas Willers .
| album | Musician | admission | Label | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird On The Road | "Jazz Workshop" | 1953 | Uptown | With Charlie Parker , Brew Moore , Paul Bley, Dick Garcia , Neil Michaud , Ted Paskert . CBC TV Broadcast Jazz Workshop , Montreal, February 5, 1953 |
| Charles Mingus Octet | Charles Mingus | 1953 | Debut | With Ernie Royal , Willie Dennis , Eddie Caine , Teo Macero , Danny Bank , John Lewis , Charles Mingus, Jackson Wiley , Kenny Clarke , Janet Thurlow , Spaulding Givens , Paul Bley (cond). |
| Coleman Classics 1 | Ornette Coleman | 1958 | Improvising Artists Inc. | With Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins. Live Hillcrest Club , Los Angeles |
| Jazz in the Space Age | George Russell | 1959 | Decca | |
| Pre-Bird | Charles Mingus | 1960 | Mercury | Bley only appeared on Weird Nightmare . |
| Mingus | Charles Mingus | 1960 | Candid | With Ted Curson , Lonnie Hillyer , Eric Dolphy , Charles McPherson , Booker Ervin , Dannie Richmond |
| fusion | The Jimmy Giuffre 3 | 1961 | verve | With Jimmy Giuffre and Steve Swallow |
| Thesis | The Jimmy Giuffre 3 | 1961 | verve | New release at ECM , coupled with Fusion (1992) |
| Jimmy Giuffre Trio Live in Europe 1961 | The Jimmy Giuffre 3 | 1961 | Raretones | published in 1984 |
| Emphasis, Stuttgart 1961 | The Jimmy Giuffre 3 | 1961 | hatART | published in 1993 |
| Flight, Bremen 1961 | The Jimmy Giuffre 3 | 1961 | hatART | published in 1993 |
| Out of Nowhere | Don Ellis | 1961 | Candid | published in 1988 |
| essence | Don Ellis | 1962 | Pacific jazz | |
| Free Fall | Giuffre / Bley / Peacock | 1962 | Columbia | |
| Sonny Meets Hawk! | Sonny Rollins | 1963 | RCA Victor | |
| Tokyo 1963 | Sonny Rollins | 1963 | Rare live recordings | |
| Communication | Jazz Composer's Orchestra | 1964/65 | Font | With Michael Mantler , Roswell Rudd , Willie Ruff , Steve Lacy , John Tchicai , Jimmy Lyons , Archie Shepp , Fred Pirtle , Eddie Gomez , Milford Graves , Carla Bley (arr) |
| Revenge: The Bigger the Love the Greater the Hate | Annette Peacock | 1969 | Polydor | With Perry Robinson , Mark Whitecage , Glen Moore , Laurence Cook , Rick Marotta and others. a .; initially as a Peacock / Bley Synthesizer Show , reissued in 2014 as an album by Peacock under the title I Belong to a World That's Destroying Itself ; Paul Bley is only involved in three titles |
| I'm the one | Annette Peacock | 1971 | RCA | With Michael Moss, Michael Garson, Tom Cosgrove, Glen Moore, Stu Woods, Barry Altschul , Laurence Cook, Rick Marotta, Airto Moreira , Dom Um Romão , Orestes Vilató ; Paul Bley is only involved in two titles |
| Jaco | Jaco Pastorius | 1974 | Improvising artists | With Pat Metheny , Bruce Ditmas |
| Sweet Earth Flying | Marion Brown | 1974 | Impulses! | |
| Pyramid | Lee Konitz | 1977 | Improvising artists | With Bill Connors |
| IAI Festival: Giuffre / Konitz / Connors / Bley | Jimmy Giuffre, Lee Konitz, Paul Bley, Bill Connors | 1978 | Improvising artists | |
| Time Being | Ralph Simon | 1980 | Gramavision Records | I.a. with Paul McCandless , John Scofield , Billy Hart |
| This Earth | Alfred Harth | 1983 | ECM | With Barre Phillips, Trilok Gurtu , Maggie Nicols |
| The Night Bathers | Bob mover | 1986 | Justin Time Records | John Abercrombie |
| Diane | Chet Baker | 1986 | SteepleChase Records | Duo album |
| Space blossoms | Dino Betti van der Noot | 1988/89 | Innowo | Big Band |
| Jazz Fantasy | Keshavan Maslak | 1989-2001 | Hum-Ha | |
| In the Myth | Yannick Rieu | 1989 | amplitude | With Normand Guilbeault (b) and Michel Ratte (dr) |
| A white line | Franz Koglmann | 1989 | has Art | |
| The Life of a Trio | Bley, Giuffre, Swallow | 1989 | Owl | |
| The Montreal Tapes: with Paul Bley and Paul Motian | Charlie Haden | 1989 | verve | |
| Right time, right place | Gary Burton | 1990 | Sonet | Duo album |
| Pieces of ... | Fredrik Lundin Quintet Feat. Paul Bley | 1990 | Stunt | |
| A musing | Jon Ballantyne | 1991 | Justin Time | Duo album |
| Fly Away Little Bird | Bley, Giuffre, Swallow | 1992 | Owl | |
| One year after | Paul Bley / Giko Pavan / Mauro Beggio | 1992 | Gala | Paul Bley with Giko Pavan (b), Mauro Beggio (dr) |
| Not to be a star | Keshavan Maslak | 1992 | Black Saint | Duo album |
| Romance in the Big City | Keshavan Maslak | 1992 | Leo | Duo album |
| Junko's Dream | Kenny Millions (Keshavan Maslak) | 1993 | Hum-Ha | Duo album (CDR) |
| Something About Water | Satoko Fujii | 1994/95 | Libra | Duo album |
| What if | Bruce Ditmas | 1994 | Postcards | With Sam Rivers , John Abercrombie, Dominic Richards |
| Conversations with a Goose | Bley, Giuffre, Swallow | 1996 | Soul note | |
| Touch | Kenny Wheeler | 1996 | Justin Time | Duo album |
| Out of Nowhere | Lee Konitz | 1997 | SteepleChase | with Jay Anderson and Billy Drummond |
| Adventure Playground | John Surman | 1991 | ECM | |
| Modern surfaces | Stich Wynston ’s Modern Surfaces With Special Guest Paul Bley | 1998 | Buzz | |
| Boxing Day | John Bacon | 1998 | Jazz Dimensions | Duo album |
| Seven | Yuri Honing | 2001 | Jazz in Motion | With Gary Peacock, Paul Motian |
| In the North | Andreas Willers | 2001 | Between the lines | |
| Traveling lights | François Carrier | 2003 | Justin Time | With Gary Peacock, Michel Lambert |
| Sand underfoot | Jeannette Lambert | 2004 | Rant | With Michel Lambert, Barre Phillips |
| Contemplation | Benjamin Koppel | 2006 | Cowbell | With Thommy Andersson (b), Peter Nilsson (d), Marilyn Mazur |
| Trio Arc | Mario Pavone | 2007 | Playscape | With Matt Wilson |
Web links
- Discography at jazzdisco.org
- Tom Lord : Jazz Discography (online)
- Paul Bley discography at Allmusic
- Paul Bley / Discography at Discogs (English)