Open, To Love cover

Open, To Love

Released

Two years after sowing his 1971 classic, Ballads, pianist Paul Bley reaped this rich crop of solo piano selections. Alongside his own timeless music, he pays homage to Carla Bley (his take on “Ida Lupino” is a stunner) and Annette Peacock, whose “Nothing Ever Was, Anyway” cathartically upsets the otherwise contemplative mood on a relatively aggressive note. Whatever the register, intimacy rules the day as if it were night, courting darkness into the foreground as a means of personal growth. Indeed, this is an album that evolves the more we listen to it.

Tyran Grillo

Recommended by

Suggestions
The People I Love cover

The People I Love

Steve Lehman, Craig Taborn
Sargasso Sea cover

Sargasso Sea

John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner
Trio Music, Live In Europe cover

Trio Music, Live In Europe

Roy Haynes, Miroslav Vitous, Chick Corea
Class Trip cover

Class Trip

Joey Baron, John Abercrombie, Mark Feldman, Marc Johnson
Bonita cover

Bonita

Sidsel Endresen, Stian Westerhus
African Piano cover

African Piano

Abdullah Ibrahim
Faithful cover

Faithful

Slawomir Kurkiewicz, Marcin Wasilewski, Michal Miskiewicz
In These Times cover

In These Times

Makaya McCraven
Wave Of Sorrow cover

Wave Of Sorrow

Arkady Shilkloper, Mikhail Alperin