Carla Bley - Fleur Carnivore (WATT/ECM, 1989)

This post is by Scott and Dan

Carla Bley (p); Lew Soloff (tr); Jens Winther (tr); Frank Lacy (Fr hn, flgn); Gary Valente (tb); Bob Stewart (tu); Daniel Beaussier (ob, fl); Wolfgang Puschnig (as, fl); Andy Sheppard (ts, cl); Christof Lauer (ts, ss); Roberto Ottini (bs, ss); Karen Mantler (har, org, vib, chimes); Steve Swallow (el b); Buddy Williams (d); Don Alias (perc)

Recorded on November 14 - 16, 1988

Recorded live at Copenhagen's Club Montmartre, Carla Bley and her Big Band manage to preserve the precision of the band's studio recordings in front of an enthusiastic audience. The band is intentionally international, as Bley handpicked musicians from six European countries to complement the Americans she brought on the tour. Like Social Studies (ECM, 1981) and Live! (ECM, 1982), which preceded Bley's brief foray into a funkier small group sound, Fleur Carnivore is a compendium of her unique compositions and complex charts. 

Major soloists include Lew Soloff, Gary Valente, Wolfgang Puschnig, and Andy Sheppard. The solos emerge as part of the arrangements, which manage to position the right musicians in the appropriate spot every time. With daughter Karen Mantler contributing harmonica and organ interludes, the band displays abundant variety, all while maintaining the composer's vision for each piece. Bley always introduces whimsical elements while never obscuring the solos.

To quote the Penguin Jazz Guide's review, "This is something like a masterpiece. The title track is worthy of Gil Evans, a majestically decadent ballad with superb solos by Soloff and Puschnig" (2010, p. 525). The whole album is a joy from beginning to end. 

Incidentally, fleur carnivore is the French term for the carnivorous Venus fly trap.