Aktion	Zweigstelle	Standorte	Status	Frist	Vorbestellungen
Vorbestellen	Zweigstelle: 07., Urban-Loritz-Pl. 2a	Standorte: CD.10 Bley C / College 5a - Szene	Status: Verfügbar	Frist:	Vorbestellungen: 0

The cover of the album also offers a solid clue as to what it sounds like: while it is no doubt a Bley record, meaning its compositions and arrangements are quite contemporary, and if it doesn't have the sound and feel of what it might have in the 1950s for an ensemble this size, it nonetheless echoes both. Furthermore, Bley's tunes go to some length to consciously draw these parallels by freely employing elements of well-known tunes from the great American songbook in both her compositions and in her solos. All of these tracks are filled with her requisite sophistication and humor, but standouts include "Appearing Nightly at the Black Orchid," a 25-minute long suite where Tin Pan Alley composers are paid clever homage in Bley's own solo, which quotes from "Someone to Watch Over Me" within the very framework of the composition. Other highlights include the fingerpopping swinger "Awful Coffee" with beautiful electric bass work by Swallow, and tough solos from Sheppard and Pusching. Bley's playful sense of elegance is also at work here, using many classic jazz tunes in her own piano break including a nice nod to Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." Another standout is the slightly, but pleasantly schizophrenic "Greasy Gravy" with strong work by Sheppard in a chart that references Duke Ellington and Stan Kenton. All of Bley's compositions here are rooted in the rhythm section, where melodies are simple and time signatures vary slightly, but her horn charts take the stuns somewhere far beyond that humble aspiration. The big-band stomp of "Someone to Watch" (not the Gershwin tune) swings along a multi-linear framework, where knotty harmonics and counterpoint give way to brief but fiery solos by some of her bandmates — check Soloff's trumpet break a minute or so in. (amg)Style: Progressive Big Band