The Very Big Carla Bley Band

The Very Big Carla Bley Band is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley released on the Watt/ECM label in 1991.

Reception
The Allmusic review by Brian Olewnick awarded the album 2½ stars and stated "The result is a fairly solid, if slightly bland, date that may cause the listener to pine for her earlier "excesses"... in the end, Bley's themes and structures tend more toward the competent than the stirring or memorable, leaving one desirous of the richer fare that she has served in the past". The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it 3 stars stating "A stirring live outfit the Very Big Band translates well to record, with plenty of emphasis on straightfoward blowing from featured soloists".

Track listing

 * All compositions by Carla Bley


 * 1) "United States" - 15:32
 * 2) "Strange Arrangement" - 7:46
 * 3) "All Fall Down" - 12:46
 * 4) "Who Will Rescue You?" - 7:12
 * 5) "Lo Ultimo" - 9:25
 * Recorded at at Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg, Germany on October 29 & 30, 1990.

Personnel

 * Carla Bley - piano
 * Lew Soloff, Guy Barker, Claude Deppa, Steven Bernstein - trumpet
 * Gary Valente, Richard Edwards, Fayyaz Virji - trombone
 * Ashley Slater - bass trombone
 * Roger Janotta - oboe, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone
 * Wolfgang Puschnig - alto saxophone, flute
 * Andy Sheppard - tenor saxophone, clarinet
 * Pete Hurt tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
 * Pablo Calogero - baritone saxophone
 * Karen Mantler - organ
 * Steve Swallow - bass guitar
 * Victor Lewis - drums
 * Don Alias - percussion