On the road with Carla Bley (and a big band of musical geniuses and misfits).
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T-shirt sketches & designs by Frank Olinsky, 1978
My first introduction to the music of composer and completely reluctant entrepreneur Carla Bley was when I crashed a 1970 recording session for her sprawling “jazz opera” at the RCA Studio A in New York City. (I had no idea who she was or what a “Jazz Composer’s Orchestra” was, or why I thought I could just walk into a “closed session;” but I was trying reinvent rock/pop self to fit into my college radio station’s jazz department.) We didn’t actually meet in person for a few years, and then in 1973, for some reason, I was hired as a glorified office boy the non-profit artist produced record distributor she’d founded with her then husband, trumpeter, composer, and major domo Michael Mantler.
I don’t think I was all that good at the job, but nonetheless, I got a call in 1977 Mike asking whether I’d be interested in going on the road for the first tour ever of Carla’s first ever road group as sound man and back-up tour manager. Mike single-handedly ran the whole shebang, but one man could only do so much. Since he’d be playing trumpet in the band, someone needed to do all the rest during the shows. Carla was an clearly an extraordinary composer (her “Ida Lupino” continues to be a favorite of mine in almost every interpretation), an irrepressible personality, and probably a great bandleader. Besides, they were offering me the most money I’d ever made.
I’d always wanted a road gig, but the closest I’d ever gotten was turning down the Blue Öyster Cult –mine was never really a rock'n'roll personality– so I had a hoot. Over a few tours I got to work daily with a motley crew of misfit genius musicians as great as Roswell Rudd, Terry Adams, Bob Stewart, Don Preston, and Gary Windo. (Emblematic of Carla’s approach was the hiring of pianist/composer “Blue” Gene Tyranny who was brought on without hearing a note, she just loved his name.) Never too crazy, never too normal, it was an unbeatable experience to tour North America before I quick-turned into media full time.
My own contributions were pretty minor, but I’m proud to have put in a good word that caused Andrew Cyrille to work our first tour, and to introduce the band to the extraordinary work of percussionist Phillip Wilson (who’d was in the AACM and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band), trombonist George Lewis (another AACM member who’d also toured with the Count Basie Orchestra), and altoist Alan Braufman.
Ticket for a March 1978 show of The Carla Bley Band at the Armadillo World Headquarters
Prepping for our first European Tour I commissioned a tour T-shirt from my school friend, designer Frank Olinsky (future co-designer of the MTV logo for me). Frank didn’t know Carla’s music and, at the time, she was playing tenor saxophone occasionally, even though she was primarily a pianist/organist; so, the designs never really made sense. As they were coming off the press and we were heading up to Woodstock for rehearsal, my freelance radio boss Dale Pon called and demanded I move with him to Los Angeles to re-launch an FM radio station in Los Angeles. Over a three hour period he cajoled and screamed and persuaded me to change the rest of my life. I hated to miss the shows, and Mike and Carla were none too happy with me, but the future beckoned.
(T-shirt sketches & designs by Frank Olinsky, 1978
October 17, 2023: Carla died today at 87 years old. RIP. Michael Mantler sent me this note:
If anyone wanted to know, this is what I would have to say:
Carla was and remains one of the most original composers of beautiful music, not only in jazz, but in all music. She was also a truly gifted musician in general with an exceptional and all-encompassing musicality. One can only hope that her music, despite the pathetic “music” business of today, continues to live on and be introduced to new audiences, who might not have been aware of it during her lifetime. On a personal level, for me she was the earliest influence pointing me towards a musical path that might otherwise have been a completely different one.
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