# CD review: Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow – Life Goes On 2020: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2020/01/03/cd-review-carla-bley-andy-sheppard-steve-swallow-life-goes-on-2020-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2020-01-03T22:19:28+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**A striking album of new music from pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with
Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow is now in its 25th year. Individual associations
among the players go back much further: bassist Swallow first recorded music by 
Carla in 1961. **

So when Bley says “Life Goes On”, a lot of life is alluded to. The album, realized
in the Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in Lugano in May 2019, with Manfred Eicher producing,
takes the form of three suites. The title piece begins as a stoical blues, at first
melancholic then hopeful. “Beautiful Telephones”, inspired by a US president’s first
observation on entering the Oval Office, has plenty of Bley’s dark wit. And “Copycat”
explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue
each other’s thoughts. Throughout, Carla’s distinctive piano, with its hints of 
Monk and Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar
and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting–
as The Telegraph recently noted – “musical mastery of a rare order”. ©

**Tracks**

1. Life Goes On I. Life Goes On 6:00
 2. Life Goes On I. On 4:46 3. Life Goes On
III. And On 4:10 4. Life Goes On IV. And Then One Day 9:02 5. Beautiful Telephones
I 4:35 6. Beautiful Telephones II 6:13 7. Beautiful Telephones III 6:16 8. Copycat
I. After You 5:29 9. Copycat II. Follow The Leader 0:17 10. Copycat III. Copycat
9:51

**Carla Bley – piano**
 **Andy Sheppard – tenor, soprano saxophone** **Steve Swallow–
bass**

![Image result for Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow - Life Goes On"](https://
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