# Experimental jazz pioneer Carla Bley dies at 87 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 20, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817 "2023-10-20T01:14:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/1 "2023-10-20T01:14:03Z")
It wasn’t my kind of music, but she was a trailblazer in her own right. (And she had some of the coolest hair I’ve ever seen on a woman.) > **[Carla Bley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carla_Bley)** > > Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she was perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator over the Hill (released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, John Scofield, and her ex-husband Paul Bley. She was a ---
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/2 "2023-10-20T11:20:40Z")
That is too bad. I have no idea what her hair was like, IRL, but she did write like 20% of the tunes in the old “illegal” _The Real Book_. Perhaps her tune “Ida Lupino” will start showing up more in jam sessions! (Among other of her compositions, of course!). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/3 "2023-10-20T19:46:46Z")
Little known fact: she started her career in Theoretical Jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/4 "2023-10-20T21:54:54Z")
Actually, she started out as a cigarette girl at Birdland. I regret not having had the chance to see her perform. I did get to see her ex Paul, though, with Steve Swallow and Lee Konitz. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/5 "2023-10-21T19:41:44Z")
wow … I just had her Duets (w/ Steve Swallow) on rotation the other day … (and had no idea she was 87!!!) ---
**Author:** ![martyg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@martyg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martyg)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experimental-jazz-pioneer-carla-bley-dies-at-87/991817/6 "2023-10-28T02:25:48Z")
She sounds still like she knew what she was doing to me.