''Musique Mecanique'' is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

recorded in 1978 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1979.Carla Bley discography
accessed August 3, 2010ECM/WATT discography
accessed August 25, 2016

Reception

The AllMusic review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

awarded the album 4 stars and stated "Carla Bley's tentet performs some of her most colorful themes on this often-humorous and generally stimulating set".Yanow, S. Allmusic Reviewaccessed August 3, 2010 '' The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' awarded the album 3 stars.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

commented, "I'm still attracted to Bley's humor, best displayed here in the title piece, a wry take on the charms and imperfections of the mechanical mode. But this is basically desultory, hinting at the feckless formalism an obsession with textures so often conceals. Beyond the jokes, and the deliberately aborted moments of lyricism, she really doesn't have much to say. Weill sure did. And so did Satie."

Track listing

All compositions by Carla Bley. # "440" - 9:48 # "Jesus Maria and Other Spanish Strains" - 11:54 # "Musique Mecanique I" - 9:46 # "Musique Mecanique II (At Midnight)" - 7:02 # "Musique Mecanique III" - 6:28

Personnel

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, piano (track 2), toy piano (track 3) * Michael Mantler - trumpet *Alan Braufman -

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Gary Windo - tenor saxophone,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

John Clark John Clark may refer to: Entertainment *John Clark or Signor Brocolini (1841–1906), Irish-born American operatic singer and actor * John Clark (actor) (born 1932), English actor and theatre director *John Clark (American actor) (1933–2011), ...

- french horn * Roswell Rudd - trombone, vocal on "Musique Mecanique II (At Midnight)" * Bob Stewart - tuba * Terry Adams - piano, electric pump organ * Steve Swallow - bass guitar *D. Sharpe -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Charlie Haden - acoustic bass (track 2) * Eugene Chadbourne -

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, electric guitar, walkie-talkie (track 2) *

Karen Mantler Karen Mantler (born 25 April 1966, in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States) is an American jazz pianist, singer, and composer. She is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler. Career Her musical debut consisted of contri ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

References

{{Authority control ECM Records albums Carla Bley albums 1979 albums