Ballads (Paul Bley album)

1971 studio album by Paul Bley

Ballads

Studio album by

Paul Bley

Released| 1971
Recorded| March 31 and July 28, 1967
Studio| New York City
Genre| Jazz
Length| 32:37
Label| ECM
ECM 1010 ST
Producer| Manfred Eicher
Paul Bley chronology
| Paul Bley with Gary Peacock
(1970)  | Ballads
(1971)  | Improvisie
(1971)

|
|

Ballads is an album by Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley recorded on March 31 and July 28, 1967 and released on ECM in 1971.[1] The sessions' trios feature rhythm sections Mark Levinson and Barry Altschul on side B, and Gary Peacock and Altschul on side A, respectively.

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
DownBeat| [3]

The AllMusic review by Eugene Chadbourne states:

> Ballads, which really seems to make ballads out of ballads, has been considered both worthy of hanging on the museum wall alongside the other masterpieces and being accorded special merit as the jazz record most used for background music... What all this adds up to, when not shoved to the background of the listener's psyche, is a beautiful sound indeed, this album being one of several that helped establish the entire concept of the divine "ECM sound," despite actually being one of Bley's own productions... Surely it was fun making this album, but it has not proven to be an album that is that much fun to really listen to. Perhaps the music's magic is marred by the excessive echo and pristine recording quality, or maybe the playing is simply pretentious. A decision can be made at the end of the recording, if the listener is still awake.[2]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Annette Peacock.

Side INo.| Title| Date recorded| Length

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|
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1.| "Ending"| July 28, 1967 (1967-07-28)| 17:15
Total length:| 17:15

Side IINo.| Title| Date recorded| Length

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1.| "Circles"| March 31, 1967 (1967-03-31)| 3:10
2.| "So Hard It Hurts"| March 31, 1967 (1967-03-31)| 12:12
Total length:| 15:22 32:37

## Personnel

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### Musicians

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#### March 31, 1967

[edit]

* Paul Bley – piano
* Mark Levinson – bass
* Barry Altschul – drums

#### July 28, 1967

[edit]

* Paul Bley – piano
* Gary Peacock – bass
* Barry Altschul – drums

### Technical personnel

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* ECM – producer
* B & B Wojirsch – cover design

## References

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1. ^ ECM discography Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine accessed August 29, 2011
2. ^ a b Chadbourne, E. Allmusic Review accessed August 29, 2011
3. ^ Down Beat: April 27, 1972 vol. 39, no. 8.

* v
* t
* e

Paul Bley

Studio albums|

* Introducing Paul Bley
* Paul Bley
* Solemn Meditation
* Footloose!
* Barrage
* Touching
* Closer
* Ramblin'
* Mr. Joy
* Paul Bley with Gary Peacock
* Ballads
* The Paul Bley Synthesizer Show
* Open, to Love
* Paul Bley/NHØP
* Jaco
* Alone, Again
* Quiet Song
* Tears
* Tango Palace
* Sonor
* Questions
* Diane
* My Standard
* Fragments
* The Paul Bley Quartet
* The Nearness of You
* Blues for Red
* Notes (with Paul Motian)
* Partners (with Gary Peacock)
* BeBopBeBopBeBopBeBop
* Memoirs (with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian)
* 12 (+6) In a Row (with Hans Koch and Franz Koglmann)
* Right Time, Right Place (with Gary Burton)
* Changing Hands
* In the Evenings out There
* Paul Plays Carla
* Annette
* Hands On
* If We May
* Time Will Tell (with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips)
* Chaos (with Furio Di Castri and Tony Oxley)
* Sankt Gerold (with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips)
* Notes on Ornette
* Not Two, Not One (with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian)
* Basics
* Nothing to Declare
* About Time

Live albums|

* Live at the Hilcrest Club 1958
* Coleman Classics Volume 1
* Improvisie
* Dual Unity (with Annette Peacock)
* Japan Suite
* Axis
* Hot
* Live at Sweet Basil
* Solo in Mondsee
* Play Blue: Oslo Concert

Related articles|

* Discography

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