4 x 4 | |
Type: | Album |
Artist: | Carla Bley |
Cover: | 4 x 4 (album).jpg |
Released: | 2000 |
Recorded: | July 1999 |
Genre: | Jazz |
Label: | Watt/ECM |
Producer: | Carla Bley & Steve Swallow |
Chronology: | Carla Bley |
Prev Title: | Are We There Yet? |
Prev Year: | 1998 |
Next Title: | Looking for America |
Next Year: | 2002 |
4 x 4 is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley with a chamber ensemble recorded in Oslo in 1999 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2000.[1] [2]
The Allmusic review by David R. Adler awarded the album 3 stars and stated "This batch of compositions is informed by Bley's distinctive brand of tongue-in-cheek playfulness... While the entire eight-piece band is consistently a pleasure, some of the album's most appealing moments occur during several Bley/Swallow duet passages. The two have been performing and recording as a duo for many years, so in a certain sense the whole band seems to revolve around them".[3] The JazzTimes review by Aaron Steinberg said "Between gigs, the ruddy and no doubt road weary outfit took a time-out in Oslo to record 4 x 4. Bley and the band sound happy to have the time to themselves, and they mostly take it easy on light-hearted tunes with fun but simple arrangements".[4] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it stars stating "with music as impressive and as ambitious as this, who's complaining? "[5]