Paul Bley (album)


Paul Bley is the second album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley featuring tracks recorded in 1954 and released on the EmArcy label.

Reception

awarded the album 4 stars stating "Pick a personality trait of the Paul Bley style and chances are it won't be found anywhere here, as lovely a piano trio jazz record as this is... For the most part the tone of the pianist remains almost frigid in its consistency; volume level rarely varies and the direction of the improvisations is solidly mainstream... The obvious problem with someone like Bley or Jimi Hendrix is that once they developed their totally unique musical personality, their earlier work starts to sound a little boring". The Penguin Guide to Jazz said "At this stage of his career, he's a very orthodox bopper, aware of the blues but certainly not restricted by them, possibly exploring aspects of Tristano's evolution as well, and certainly listening to classical pianists for technique and harmonic ideas".

Track listing

All compositions by Paul Bley except as indicated
  1. "Topsy" - 2:46
  2. "My Heart" - 2:43
  3. "That Old Feeling" - 2:41
  4. "There Will Never Be Another You" - 5:50
  5. "Autumn Breeze" - 3:13
  6. "I Want to Be Happy" - 2:22
  7. "My Old Flame" - 3:30
  8. "Time on My Hands" - 3:34
  9. "Drum One" - 2:24
  10. "This Can't Be Love" - 3:12
  11. "My One and Only " - 6:47
  12. "52nd Street Theme" - 2:49