| Paul Bley has returned many times over to recording solo piano works. In the course of over three decades, Bley has found ever more possibilities. This 1993 recording stands comfortably aside his best work (including 1972's OPEN, TO LOVE--a peak solo piano recording by any player). On many of his albums, Bley interprets the work of other composers (most notably those by two former wives, Carla Bley and Annette Peacock), but SWEET TIME is entirely self-composed. As always, the line between composition and improvisation blurs as Bley unearths every nuance of melody. Space and silence have always been integral to his playing as well; notes linger, fade or simply stop, creating gorgeous tension, drama and beauty. JazzTimes (5/96, p.112) - "Dry wine. SWEET TIME is full bodied, aromatic....Bley can work the keys like a psychiatrist, make you recall a swirl of deep feelings. After listening, you sigh, shake your head and move on, oh, but for a moment this has been the kind of tinkering with your insides, a sort of turning of your emotional earth..." |