Now in her eighth decade, pianist and composer Carla Bley continues to create her own sound and path. She mixes things up a bit here, eschewing a drummer while keeping the personal toned bass of Steve Swallow and breathy tenor or soprano sax of Andy Sheppard. The remarkable part here is the deliberate and almost agonizingly slow pace of most of the tunes, with the themes undulating like the proverbial molasses in January.
Bley’s deep and dark plodding themes as on the series of “Life Goes On” pieces are contrasted by Swallow’s almost harp like electric bass guitar sounds dancing around the ectomorphic musings, with Sheppard’s tenor heaving sighs and emphysemic breaths. The three part “Beautiful Telephones” includes dashes of ivory woven together with the palpable mass of Shepard’s reed, while “Copy Cat: After You” is a delicious impressionistic collection of brush strokes. On soprano sax, Sheppard is playful on “Copycat: Copycat” and whimsical with the playmates on “Life Goes On: And Then One Day”. The album is essentially variations of three themes, making the experience like a musical mix of sketches of charcoals. Intimate delvings into dark.