Paul Bley - The Floater Syndrome (1990)

Paul Bley's Savoy recordings of 1962-63 were an extension of the innovations of Bill Evans and served as a transition to the avant-garde. Bley, who would offer other pianists a more lyrical alternative to Cecil Taylor in playing free music, engaged in very close interaction with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete LaRoca on these influential recordings; so close in fact that it is surprising to realize that this particular trio only really existed in the recording studios! This Lp (which, as with its companion Syndrome, is long overdue to be fully reissued on CD), features the trio on three of Bley's originals plus two songs apiece from a pair of composers whose work was rarely "covered" this early on: Ornette Coleman and Carla Bley. With such strong yet challenging melodies as "When Will The Blues Leave," "Floater" and "The Circle With The Hole In The Middle," Bley and his sidemen were free to engage in advanced and intuitive improvisations that barely held on to the idea of chord structures but were quite logical and generally fairly melodic. Highly recommended.