Half of this 1984 release was recorded live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, the other half live in Bley's own Grog Kill Studio. With band members stepping forward to sing (most notably drummer D. Sharpe on the title song and pianist Arturo O'Farrill on "Very, Very Simple"), the album has a pronounced cabaret feel to it. Bley's writing already had strong ties to both Kurt Weill and Nino Rota, and the addition of the character-driven vocalizing furthers the overall dramatic life of these songs. The humor is in keeping with what her audience had come to expect from such works as MUSIQUE MECHANIQUE and other selections scattered throughout her catalog. "The Piano Lesson," an instrumental, draws its identity from the fractured musical figures associated with a piano lesson. That it becomes the basis for highly skilled ensemble playing and inventive soloing completes the joke.

Rovi