Open, To Love

Paul Bley

EN / DE
LP from the "Luminessence" Series.
CD from the "Touchstones" Series.
 
After Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations, and Keith Jarrett’s Facing You, Paul Bley’s Open, To Love was the third fabulous chapter in ECM’s quietly revolutionary solo piano manifesto, whose impact endures and continues to influence improvisers today.  In the liner notes to this Luminessence vinyl edition, Bley biographer Greg Buium writes, “After more than fifty years, Open, To Love remains an imperishable gem, lodged forever in the present tense, and among the great masterpieces in ECM’s vast catalogue.” Produced by Manfred Eicher in Oslo in September 1972, the Canadian pianist’s album brilliantly integrates three strands of material into a sweeping and emotionally powerful narrative arc.  Repertoire is comprised of songs by Carla Bley and Annette Peacock (Carla’s “Closer”, “Ida Lupino” and “Seven”, and Annette’s “Open To Love” and “Nothing Ever Was, Anyway”), plus two pieces by Paul which unspool and reconfigure jazz standards.  In “Harlem” and “Started”, Bley fragments motivic material from “I Remember Harlem” and “I Can’t Get Started”, pieces he had played through the bebop years, until the music acquires a surrealistic dreamlike character, meshing perfectly with new visions of free balladry.
LP aus der "Luminessence" Serie.
CD aus der "Touchstones" Serie.
 
Nach Chick Coreas Piano Improvisations und Keith Jarretts Facing You war Paul Bleys Open, To Love das dritte fabelhafte Kapitel in ECMs leise revolutionärem Solo-Piano-Manifest, dessen Wirkung bis heute anhält und Improvisatoren beeinflusst.  In den Liner Notes dieser Luminessence-Vinyl-Edition schreibt Bley-Biograph Greg Buium: "Nach mehr als fünfzig Jahren bleibt Open, To Love ein unvergängliches Juwel, das für immer in der Gegenwart verankert ist und zu den großen Meisterwerken in ECMs riesigem Katalog gehört." Das von Manfred Eicher im September 1972 in Oslo produzierte Album des kanadischen Pianisten integriert auf brillante Weise drei Materialstränge zu einem weitreichenden und emotional starken Erzählbogen.  Das Repertoire besteht aus Liedern von Carla Bley und Annette Peacock (Carlas "Closer", "Ida Lupino" und "Seven" und Annettes "Open To Love" und "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway") sowie zwei Stücken von Paul, die Jazz-Standards neu aufrollen und umgestalten.  In "Harlem" und "Started" fragmentiert Bley motivisches Material aus "I Remember Harlem" und "I Can’t Get Started", Stücke, die er in den Bebop-Jahren gespielt hatte, bis die Musik einen surrealistischen, traumhaften Charakter erhält, der sich perfekt mit neuen Visionen freier Balladendichtung verbindet.
Featured Artists Recorded

September 1972, Arne Bendiksen Studio, Oslo

Original Release Date

01.02.1973

  • 1Closer
    (Carla Bley)
    05:51
  • 2Ida Lupino
    (Carla Bley)
    07:31
  • 3Started
    (Paul Bley)
    05:13
  • 4Open, To Love
    (Annette Peacock)
    07:10
  • 5Harlem
    (Paul Bley)
    03:22
  • 6Seven
    (Carla Bley)
    07:21
  • 7Nothing Ever Was, Anyway
    (Annette Peacock)
    06:02
On his own, Bley is even more sombre and introspective, but the music has a rare freshness and clarity, and it’s perhaps the deepest glimpse yet into the way his mind works.  [The first three pieces] unfold slowly, unbroken in mood, conveying a beauty which must speak clearly to everyone. His gracious melodies, sometimes broken up by his redoubtable technique like smoke-rings, giving way almost imperceptibly to the next. The shifts of emphasis and direction are tremendously subtle, and his fine touch etches them with a stained-glass clarity. Practically all his albums are important documents on a remarkable mind, and this is one of the best.
Richard Williams, Melody Maker (1973, Month’s Best)
 
Inspiration et respiration mélodique sont les mots qui viennent immédiatement à l’esprit lorsque l’on écoute cet album, le plus célèbre enregistrement solo de Paul Bley. Un an après « Facing You » dans lequel Keith Jarrett résume sa science pianistique et ouvre de nouvelles perpectives, Bley affirme l’originalité d’un jeu tout en nuances qui ne cesse de convoquer le silence, de chuchoter des mélodies exquises. Il se détache de l’abstraction pour s’ouvrir davantage au lyrisme, privilégie l’harmonie, les notes qui donnent une âme à la musique.
PDC, Jazz Magazine
 
Wer Bley mit all seiner introvertierten Spannung, Klangschönheit und meditativen Dichte richtig oder wieder neu kennenlernen möchte, zudem in ausgezeichneter Aufnahmetechnik und auf einem adäquaten, erstklassigen Instrument, dem sei seine einzigartige und wohl auch beste Solo-LP „Open, To Love“ ans Herz gelegt.
Johannes Anders, Tages Anzeiger
 
The notes hang in the air, projected as if to eternity – frozen-frame moments and intervallic essences. The sound is a caressing, emotive and all-consuming feeling of ebbs and flows. Paul Bley at the piano by himself. Reflecting and seeking, he plays the instrument, the room, your head. Like Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Corea, Thelonious Monk and, yes, even Oscar Peterson, Bley is one of a kind and must be dealt with by the listener in pursuit of a full view of contemporary piano (and music) art. Bley keeps going where the music takes him. Go along. You’ll be knocked out by the trip.
Smith, Down Beat