Carla Bley

A highly regarded pianist, composer, and arranger, Carla Bley was at the forefront of avant-garde jazz and modern creative music beginning in the 1960s. She initially emerged as a composer, working closely with pianist Paul Bley as well as progressive artists like George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre. She was a founder of the Jazz Composers' Orchestra, and her long-form jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill stands as a distinct stylistic signpost of the era. Bley worked with a host of free jazz icons -- including Pharaoh Sanders, Steve Lacy, and Peter Brotzmann, among others -- and c...