A highly regarded pianist, composer, and arranger, Carla Bley was at the forefront of avant-garde jazz and modern creative music beginning in the '60s. She initially emerged as a composer, working closely with pianist Paul Bley, as well as progressive artists like George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre. She was a founder of the Jazz Composers' Orchestra and her long-form jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill stands as a distinct stylistic signpost of the era. Bley worked with a host of free-jazz icons -- including Pharaoh Sanders, Steve Lacy, and Peter Brotzmann, among others -- and continued to compose challenging genre-bending works into the 21st century. Along with her many large ensemble works, she regularly collaborated in a trio with bassist Steve Swallow and saxophonist Andy Sheppard, issuing albums like 2013's Trios, 2016's Anando el Tiempo, and 2020's Life Goes On. ~ Chris Kelsey