Born Lovella May Borg in Oakland, California on May 11, 1936, Carla Bley was a
jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader who had success as a solo artist and with
ensembles for many decades. Born into a musical family, she learned to play
piano as a child and at the age of 17, moved to New York where she met and later
married Canadian jazz pianist Paul Bley. She began writing her own songs in the
late 1950s, which were recorded by her husband as well as other jazz musicians
including George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre. Carl Bley later played a role in the
formation of the Jazz Compose...