4x4 (Carla Bley album)

4 x 4
Studio album by Carla Bley
Released 2000
Recorded July 1999
Genre Jazz
Label Watt/ECM
Producer Carla Bley & Steve Swallow
Carla Bley chronology
Are We There Yet?
(1998)
4 x 4
(1999)
Looking for America
(2002)

4 x 4 is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley with a chamber ensemble recorded in Oslo in 1999 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2000.[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by David R. Adler awarded the album 3 stars and stated "This batch of compositions is informed by Bley's distinctive brand of tongue-in-cheek playfulness... While the entire eight-piece band is consistently a pleasure, some of the album's most appealing moments occur during several Bley/Swallow duet passages. The two have been performing and recording as a duo for many years, so in a certain sense the whole band seems to revolve around them".[2] The JazzTimes review by Aaron Steinberg said "Between gigs, the ruddy and no doubt road weary outfit took a time-out in Oslo to record 4 x 4. Bley and the band sound happy to have the time to themselves, and they mostly take it easy on light-hearted tunes with fun but simple arrangements".[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it 3⅓ stars stating "with music as impressive and as ambitious as this, who's complaining? "[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Penguin Guide to Jazz[4]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Carla Bley. 

No. Title Length
1. "Blues in 12 Bars / Blues in 12 Other Bars"   14:32
2. "Sidewinders in Paradise"   8:36
3. "Les Trios Lagons (d'apres Henri Matisse): Plate XVII/Plate XVIII/Plate XIX"   15:37
4. "Baseball"   7:48
5. "Útviklingssang"   9:18
  • Recorded at Rainbow Studio, Oslo in July 1999.

Personnel

References

  1. Carla Bley discography accessed August 12, 2010
  2. 1 2 Adler, D. R. Allmusic Review accessed August 12, 2010
  3. Steinberg, A. 4 x 4 Review JazzTimes, April, 2001
  4. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 131. ISBN 0-14-102327-9.
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