Duets is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley

Carla Bley

Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...

 with bassist Steve Swallow

Steve Swallow

Steve Swallow is a jazz double bass and bass guitarist and composer born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.One of the leading bassists in jazz, Swallow is noted for collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley...

 recorded and released on the Watt/ECM

ECM (record label)

ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...

 label in 1988.

Reception

The Allmusic review by David Nelson McCarthy awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "their tremendous musical rapport and precise wit are really beautiful. It comes highly recommended". The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it 3 stars stating "Its an entertaining album and an ideal primer on Bley's compositional and improvising techniques".

Track listing

All compositions by Carla Bley except as indicated

1. "Baby Baby" - 6:28
2. "Walking Batteriewoman" - 4:01
3. "Útviklingssang" - 4:42
4. "Ladies in Mercedes" (Steve Swallow) - 5:44
5. "Romantic Notion No. 3" - 7:02
6. "Remember" (Swallow) - 5:24
7. "Ups and Downs" - 6:16
8. "Reactionary Tango (In Three Parts)" (Bley, Swallow) - 8:44
9. "Soon I Will Be Done With the Troubles of This World" (Traditional) - 6:58
   • Recorded at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, New York in the Summer of 1985.