Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz

by Paul Bley, David Lee

This presents the story of a piano prodigy and his odyssey through the most turbulent years in modern jazz.

Genres: Music, Biography

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Hyman Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and Arp audio synthesizers. Bley was a long-time resident of the United States. His music has been described by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times as "deeply original and aesthetically aggressive". Bley's prolific output includes influential recordings from the 1950s through to his solo piano records of the 2000s.

Reviews

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read for Bley fans, of which I am one. I agree with Herb's review from February - the lack of detail is frustrating. For example, all Bley says about the end of his marriage with composer Carla (Borg) Bley is that his suggestion that she form a band with members of the Jazz Composers Guild cost him his marriage. Those who don't know that Carla ended up with trumpeter Michael Mantler are left hanging. The book is full of half-explained loose ends like that.

But it also recounts a fascinating career, and Bley's musical insights are mostly on point. It's not the autobiography it could have been, but it's good enough for what it is.

[Herb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd heard good things about this book when it came out in 1999, but sadly didn't get around to reading it until after Paul Bley died in January 2016. I liked the book, and Bley touches on pretty much every area and period of a long and varied career, but I kept wishing he had gone into more detail throughout the book.

Experienced music writer David Lee is credited with helping produce the book, but it seems as if he may have done little more than copy edit Bley's text (or taped reminiscences), rather than asking follow-up questions that might have prompted Bley to expand on his thoughts.

[Bob K · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm glad this exists as a record of Mr. Bley's life since he passed away in 2016, I feel this was a bit of a missed opportunity for something deeper. There are interesting details of his childhood in Montreal, his early professional life in New York and his decades of performing that would follow. And I feel I have a better understanding of Mr. Bley as a person and the uncompromising, brilliant artist he was. But his restless, unsettled quality that is reflected here also makes for a book that's a bit glib and I feel his life and work had greater depths that could have been explored.