Carla Bley is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader from Oakland, California, who began performing and composing in the late 1950s and became prominent within the New York avant-garde and free jazz scenes. Her work ranges from small-group improvisation to large-scale ensemble and orchestral projects, blending free-jazz improvisation, jazz fusion and satirical, theatrical composition techniques that contributed to the development of independent, composer-led approaches in modern jazz.
