Paul Bley
Solo in Mondsee

A SOLO IN MONDSEE 

If someone asked me who I would like to gift a Bosendorfer Imperial, worth several hundred thousand euros, I would unhesitatingly say Paul Bley, yes indeed, that same Bley who, a few years before Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert, had already given an impetus to the genre with his "Open, To Love" (1973), without detracting from improvisation that begins with classical music and intertwines with jazz music, characterizing its style. The abstract nature of this music, by forgetting the scores, develops and disrupts the melody, rendering what is the deepest sense of art in general, the representation of instinct in various forms, that sensitivity which only great artists can bring forth from life, the revelation of the soul's hiding place.

The musical themes move up and down, creating a sonic tapestry that reveals a melody that is never predictable and not at all boring, so with each listen, every phrase can seem new and evoke different emotions, like life itself.

And it is precisely on a Bosendorfer Imperial that Paul Bley carves out his sonic inventions; 30 years after his first improvisation album, Bley records this "Solo in Mondsee" (2001) and only now, upon reaching his seventy-fifth year, decides to release it. Recorded in Austria (Mondsee), it contains 10 variations that lead to reflection and the exploration of the intimate and profound relationship between instinct and talent.

Thus, Paul Bley, who in the past collaborated with jazz music legends such as Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Billy Higgins, and Charles Mingus, showcases in 2007 his soul and his exceptional piano skills, gifting the world a work that highlights his great sensitivity, music that is pure poetry, introspective and intense, solid, capable of marking a steadfast point within the entire musical landscape, an anchor to which anyone can cling beyond any unstable reality.

Romanticism and melancholy, like no rainy day could offer, vivid and violet light that no starry night could bring, unique harmonies and therapeutic magic that bring serenity and overwhelm the senses, stimulating and caressing them, digging into the deepest layers of the epidermis.

Paul Bley is a unique artist, with experience ranging from great jazz artists to the exploration of electronic music in the late '60s, using the early Moogs, a man who defies time and who shows us today his sonic rainbow, playing the strings of his piano, extraordinarily managing to touch the soul of any person.

55 minutes of unpredictable and perilous passion.

"In the garden, there is a large tree, huge, the fog slowly rises toward the sky and reveals a small house with blurred outlines, the dim light of early autumn almost dazes, the crystalline sound of the piano accompanies a new day"