Here is simply one of the most anticipated club engagements of this New York jazz season. Any public performance by pianist/composer Carla Bley is today a rare and precious occurrence, even more so in an atmosphere as intimate as that of Jazz Standard. She is joined by veteran bassist and longtime collaborator Steve Swallow; and by British saxophonist and composer Andy Sheppard, whose Surrounded by Sea is his third and latest CD for the ECM label. “Even the jazz hardcore sometimes concede that unfettered improvisation can deliver a torrent of notes that could have used the odd edit. The distilled, yet playful, music of Carla Bley’s trio is the perfect antidote…With Steve Swallow on bass guitar and Andy Sheppard on saxes, they seemed to be playing the absolute essence of a busier and more convoluted jazz, which they had decided to keep to themselves.” (John Fordham, The Guardian, 7.19.2016) Carla Bley – piano Steve Swallow – bass Andy Sheppard – tenor & soprano saxophone