WOODSTOCK, NY (CelebrityAccess) — Jazz composer, pianist, organist, and free jazz pioneer Carla Bley died on Tuesday at her home in Woodstock, New York. She was 87.
Bassist Steve Swallow, Bley’s professional and life partner, told the New York Times that she died from complications of brain cancer.
An influential composer and performer, Bley played a significant role in the development of the free jazz movement of the 1960s, gaining recognition for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill.
She was also a noted composer, whose works have been performed by artists such as Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, and John Scofield, among others.
A California native, Bley relocated to New York when she was 17 and found employment as a cigarette girl at Birdland, the legendary Manhattan jazz club that provided an important stage for artists such as Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis.
While working at Birdland, she met jazz pianist Paul Bley and began touring with him as Karen Borg before the couple married in 1957. Bley encouraged her to begin composing and her music was soon being recorded by artists such as George Russell and Jimmy Guiffre.
In 1964, she helped to organize the Jazz Composers Guild and she co-led the Jazz Composers’ Orchestra with Michael Mantler. She also helped to launch the JCOA record label, which released significant recordings by artists such as Cliford Thornton and Don Cherry, as well as her Escalator Over The Hill series.
Her collaborations also included work with pop artists such as Jack Bruce, Nick Wyatt, and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, among others.
Bley was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972 for music composition and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2015.
She also led her own big band, which included Lew Soloff from Blood, Sweat & Tears, as well as several smaller ensembles.
She was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and released her final album, Life Goes On in 2020.
