Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian - When Will The Blues Leave (Live at Aula Magna STS, Lugano-Trevano / 1999) (2019)

When Will The Blues Leave, a previously unreleased recording rescued from the archives, bears testimony to the special musical understanding shared by three great improvisers. Long acknowledged by creative musicians as one of the influential groups of the 'free' era, Paul Bley's pioneering trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian has been under-represented on record.

In 1999, a year after recording the splendid reunion album Not Two, Not One, Paul Bley's highly innovative trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian took to the road with concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. When Will The Blues Leave documents a terrific performance at the Aula Magna, Trevano in Switzerland.

Included here, alongside the angular freebop Ornette Coleman title track, are Paul Bley's "Mazatlan", brimming over with energy, Gary Peacock's evergreen "Moor", Gershwin's tender "I Loves You Porgy" and much more All played with the subtlety of master improvisers, recasting the music in every moment.

Paul Bley's last recording for ECM was the live solo album Play Blue, recorded at the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2008. Paul Motian's final recording as a leader for the label was Lost In A Dream, recorded 2009, with Chris Potter and Jason Moran. Motian died in 2011, Bley in 2016.

Paul Bley (piano)
Gary Peacock (double bass)
Paul Motian (drums)