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 Links BleyAt the age of five, Paul Bley gave his first violin recital and two years later, he began studying the piano. Since then Paul Bley has become one of the greatest contributors to modern jazz. Bley might have been considered a child prodigy. He went through numerous classical teachers - including one that had him play, balancing filled water glasses on his wrists. At age 11 he graduated from the McGill Conservatory - having taken on their musical curriculum in addition to his public school education. Jazz was the allure however, and Bley formed a band and played clubs and summer stints in the Laurentian Mountains at age 13.Four years later he had formed the Montreal Jazz Workshop, brought Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Ben Webster to Montreal and had taken over Oscar Peterson's spot at the Alberta Lounge. He then left for New York City and haunted the clubs while he took the complete course at Julliards School of Music. He sat in with everyone he could and ended up playing for Charles Mingus, who recorded Bley for the first time on his Debut label. GreenwichA native of Hamilton, Ontario, Sonny Greenwich was born on January 1st, 1936. His early interests were in art and boxing, taking up the guitar in his late teens when his father brought a guitar back from Germany after the war. He was not exposed to formal instruction in music.Sonny Greenwich first drew notice for his style in 1959 at the Musician's Incorporated Club in Toronto. He appeared at the First Floor Club the next year, after which followed dates in Montreal. The year 1965 saw him in New York at The Village Gate with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Greenwich's reputation, growing by word of mouth, brought him to the attention of John Handy, with whom he played from December 1966 through March 1967 in Seattle, San Francisco and New York. Columbia Records released their concert appearance as Spirituals to Swing. It was also at this time that Greenwich recorded the album Third Season, with saxophonist Hank Mobley, for Blue Note Records. In 1968, Sonny Greenwich led his own quartet, comprised of pianist Teddy Saunders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the Village Vanguard in New York. In December 1969 Greenwich performed with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Tony Williams at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto. The following year, Greenwich's own group supported the Miles Davis band at Massey Hall. This same year he recorded his first album with CBC, The Old Man and the Child. Greenwich made his second CBC album, Sun Song, in 1974. He worked with pianist Don Thompson, bassist Richard Homme and drummer Terry Clarke between 1970 and 1974 when Claude Ranger took Clarke's place. A third album, Evolution - Love's Reverse, was recorded in 1978. | Paul Bley & Sonny Greenwich | Discography CD / 1995 Media Files |
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