Paul Bley Nothing To Declare CD - Import

Solo performer: Paul Bley (piano).
Liner Note Author: Frank Kimbrough.
Recording information: Sound on Sound, New York, NY (05/16/2003).
Arguably, pianist and composer Paul Bley is at his best on his solo outings. It's not that his ensemble music is lacking in any way; it may even be more sophisticated. But in his solo settings, Bley truly allows the listener in on his sound world, his manner of lyric thinking, his conflicts, his ideas of silence and its place, and his dialogues with the music and their outcome. Nothing to Declare is his fifth solo outing for Justin Time. There are four pieces, the shortest of which is over eight minutes long. In these long solos, Bley doesn't just stretch out; he rambles across ideas in song and in musical history; he approaches concepts and techniques with the same weight he does his innate pointillistic lyricism. His engagement of the blues is everywhere present but not always apparent. His beautiful meditation on Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are" cuts across notions of jazz, popular song, and classical notions, while his "8th Avenue" pays a beautiful and engrossing tribute to Fats Waller. "Breakdown" is an excursion into the intricacies of the blues, from its phraseology and tonalities to its elemental song forms and modulations. In all, Nothing to Declare is Bley's best outing for Justin Time thus far. It's simple in its presentation, but labyrinthine in its journeys. ~ Thom Jurek
Canadian-born pianist Paul Bley has quite the resume--after all, how many musicians have played with Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman? During the intense flowering of the 1960s avant-garde, Bley proved one could play both "free" and with focused lyricism simultaneously. NOTHING TO DECLARE is another entry in Bley's long list of solo recitals, but he's far from coasting on past successes, as this stands with much of his best work. Whereas some of Bley's albums could, understandably, be considered a bit on the moody side, this set has a crisp, bright, sunny-afternoon feel, as if he were commemorating a happy occasion.
Bley still considers his notes carefully, yet he's never tentative or stiff--there's a gentle melodiousness to the proceedings, and there are several subtle tributes to classic, historical jazz piano styles. "Breakdown" has the genial gentleness of Errol Garner, the economy of Thelonious Monk, and the sly, limber tunefulness of Fats Waller woven perfectly into a captivating tapestry. "Blues Waltz" finds Bley getting a little frantic and a lot bluesy, artfully combining elegance and tension. Both intelligent and unassuming, NOTHING TO DECLARE is recommended to Bley fan and newcomer alike.JazzTimes (p.107) - "Bley remains inspired throughout the program....Bley's fans will love NOTHING TO DECLARE, but it should also be heard by anyone who likes to hear a great improviser push himself."