Carla Bley - Escalator Over The Hill

EU import

In 1967 at the height of musical experimentations across all genres, 31-year-old Carla Bley began work on an epic jazz opera, Escalator Over the Hill, one of the most audacious recordings of the era. It took four years to complete. The work featured a cast of more than 50 players, ranging from important avant-jazz players to rock stars to a pop artist on the rise, Linda Ronstadt.

The full Escalator Over The Hill project was rejected by various labels, and finally released in 1971. It was eventually released by JCOA Records, formed by the non-profit Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association Bley and her then-husband Michael Mantler had been instrumental in forming. The story of the entire project follows a labyrinthian path of personnel fluctuations, cross-country taped contributions, shifts in recording and mixing facilities, and financial difficulties that often forced the entire operation to go into hiatus mode.
Nonetheless, Bley persisted in making her debut album as a leader. Today, she reflects back on her youthful magnum opus: “It takes a long time to listen to,” she says. “It’s insane.” She pauses with a smile and adds, “Insane is good.”

Many agreed. In Rolling Stone, Jonathon Cott wrote of the result: “Like an electric transformer, Escalator Over the Hill synthesizes and draws on an enormous range of musical materials – raga, jazz, rock, ring-modulated piano sounds – all brought together through Carla Bley’s extraordinary formal sense and ability to unify individual but diverse musical sections…The opera is an international musical encounter of the first order.”