Jazz enthuasiasts who value the true innovators of the music are fortunate that Paul Bley is still pushing its boundaries through the inventions of a single instrument. Bley's style is so explorative and idiosyncratic—as was Monk's—that his imagination seems to continually consider and savor ideas, as one would value a work of art. Once the consideration process is through, Bley embellishes even the simplest idea and makes it part of his broader body of thought. For example, "Told You So" takes a sing-songy motive and elucidates the nuggets of entertainment and harmonic possibilities within it, even as he enriches the phrase and adds humor to it.
Basics presents Bley in his fourth solo outing on Justin Time Records, and perhaps Bley alone is the best way to appreciate him. His hard-to-pin-down tonal centers and his unpredictability as he employs the full keyboard for complex expression has inspired successive piano masters like Fred Hersch and Keith Jarrett. The freedom in Bley's style, even as he references the original intent of a song, releases the pianist from written and even harmonic constraints. As Herbie Hancock told Larry Willis, "Remember that the octave consists of twelve tones," meaning that the augmentation of chords and their resolutions can assume twists and turns of the musician's choosing. Utterly unconventional, Bley perceived and practiced this aesthetic before Hancock was recording, Bley expanding his tonal pallette through whatever means possible such as his early ventures into electronics.
Unlike Bley's ECM recording, Not Two, Not One, Basics presents a more relaxed and less thunderous Bley, who retains his signature looseness and closely knit chords before they splinter into rivulets and floods of sound.
Perhaps one of the most interesting tunes on Basics is Monk's Mood. What would Bley do to interpret the tune? The listener already knows that he won't re-create the tune through Monk's style. Rather, Bley smooths out the jaggedness of the tune and expands its rhythm freedom, taking one measure and altering it several times in wonder.
It seems that Bley names his tunes according to the mood that he intends to express. We have "Startled," which perversely doesn't startle the listener at all. Instead, it proceeds in an ebb and flow as a quasi-ballad form. That is, the tune undergoes so many unanticipated modulations that it couldn't be sung, in spite of its reassuring tenor. "Walk Home" also defies expectations, perhaps because the walks that Bley describes are more ruminative and slower than, say, most city-dwellers'. If the imagery created by the tune were descriptive, then Bley's walks would be all-absorbing and thoughtful, taking in the colors and energy and ambiance of each block. Then, "Love Lost" sparingly contains a tentative brightness that one wouldn't expect as well.
Like any other true artist, Bley continues to grow and investigate, and Basics shares the complexity of his thought conveyed through his medium of expression. - Aaj Staff / allaboutjazz
Pianist/composer Paul Bley's indisputable contributions to modern jazz and improvisation are somewhat legendary. Whether exploring parts unknown with clarinetist Jimmy Guiffre or when citing his highly acclaimed stints with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian, not to mention some of his early endeavors with the bebop crowd, Bley's unique craft resides in a class of its own. And with this 2001 solo piano performance titled Basics, the artist continues to meld mainstream applications with forward thinking concepts and his somewhat infamous implementations of subtle melodic intervals amid ingenious utilization of space and depth. Here, the pianist presents a series of original compositions along with Thelonious Monk's "Monk's Mood." Through it all, Bley's expressive lyricism provides the listener with melodious, interweaving sequences brimming with lush statements, sweeping arpeggios, and animated choruses, while his richly thematic composition "Told You So" features a lovely childlike theme constructed upon R&B motifs, rhythmic block chords, and daintily executed harmonies. Hence, a complex musician at work as Paul Bley intermingles askew phraseology with geometrically fabricated lines and endearing propositions. Recommended! - Genn AStarita / AllMusic
Seasoned solo pianist Paul Bley presents a program of 10 original compositions and one standard, Thelonious’ “Monk’s Mood.” Each note rings with calm authority, the by-product of years in the bop and postbop trenches. His two hands, at times, sound as if they are holding a fascinating conversation with each other; on the tune “Lucky,” Bley’s intermanual rapport leads to a startling display of independent motion, the right hand charging fearlessly into the next harmonic domain, while the left lags behind, as if tying up loose ends. Transitions within the pieces are almost like cinematic cuts, sometimes smooth, at other times abrupt, depending on the effect desired.
Although subtly shaded dynamics are a key feature of this disc, there’s no denying Bley’s percussive attack and firm tone, perhaps originally conceived to cut through the chatter in a noisy club. The onetime child prodigy and disciple of fellow Montreal native Oscar Peterson long ago made his mark on jazz through his work with, among others, bassists Steve Swallow, Charles Mingus, Gary Peacock and Charlie Haden. Basics evidences a postmodern keyboard master in his prime. - Greg Robinson / jazztimes
Tracks
01. Love Lost
02. Basics
03. Speed Kills
04. Told You So
05. Lucky
06. Chet
07. Walk Home
08. Blue Waltz
09. Monk's Mood
10. Early Alben
11. Startled
PAUL BLEYpiano
All music composed by Paul Bley, except (9) by Thelonious Monk
Recorded July 4, 2000 at Studio Tempo, Montreal
Justin Time - JUST 154-2