Carla Bley is a minimalist who achieves much with little. On Andando el Tiempo, the pianist leaves micro spaces between notes, intimations of the silence at the heart of reality. Likewise, her longtime accompanists, saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist-longtime companion Steve Swallow play just enough and no more. A jazz composer for half a century, passages of her music suggest the lyricism of Duke Ellington’s more ambitious work, but masterfully achieved with fewer resources.
