Carla Bley, Innovative Jazz Composer and Pianist, Dies at 87

Jazz composer and pianist Carla Bley has died at the age of 87. Bley, known for her inventive compositions that merged the avant-garde with traditional elements of melody and harmony, passed away at her home in Willow, N.Y. on Oct. 17. The cause of death was complications from brain cancer, according to her daughter, Karen Mantler. Throughout her six-decade-long career, Bley made a significant impact on the jazz genre, shaping its sound by incorporating influences from swing, bebop, rock, polka, and German cabaret music. She was one of the few women to rise to prominence as a jazz composer and instrumentalist. Bley’s compositions included the jazz standard “Ida Lupino” and the monumental “Escalator Over the Hill,” a jazz opera. She also worked with notable musicians such as bassist Charlie Haden, guitarist John McLaughlin, and vocalist Linda Ronstadt. Bley received numerous honors for her work, including a Guggenheim fellowship for music composition in 1972 and the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award in 2015. Her music extended beyond jazz, and she even “renounced” the genre for a period in the late 1960s to explore a more playful style influenced by the Beatles and saxophonist Albert Ayler. Bley’s impact on jazz was recognized by jazz critic Nat Hentoff, who compared her big band scores to those of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. Bley’s legacy will continue to inspire future generations of jazz musicians and composers.