The Lost Chords is a live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio 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 Andy Sheppard

Andy Sheppard

Andy Sheppard is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow.-Biography:Sheppard was born in Warminster,...

, 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...

, and Billy Drummond

Billy Drummond

Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond, Jr. is an American jazz drummer.Drummond learned jazz from an early age from his father, who was a drummer and a jazz enthusiast and whose record collection included many recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Buddy Rich and Elvin Jones, among others...

 recorded in Europe in 2003 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 2004.

Reception

The album was greeted with significant critical approval. The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded The Lost Chords 3½ stars and stated "The depth of communication here is marvelous, and given the level of comfort these musicians have with one another, that feeling of ease is communicated to the listener as well". The JazzTimes

JazzTimes

JazzTimes is a magazine that dates back to Radio Free Jazz, a publication founded in 1970 by Ira Sabin when he was operating a record store in Washington, DC. It was originally a newsletter designed to update shoppers on the latest jazz releases and provide jazz radio programmers with a means of...

review by Geoffrey Himes said "if great jazz playing involves fresh harmonic thinking and ensemble give-and-take, this is some of the best jazz playing around.". The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it 4 stars calling it "A marvellous record... Recommended to fans and newcomers alike".

Track listing

All compositions by Carla Bley

1. "3 Blind Mice: 3 Blind Mice" - 5:33
2. "3 Blind Mice: Wink Leak/Traps/Leonard Feather" - 5:30
3. "3 Blind Mice: The Maze/Blind Mice Redux" - 4:14
4. "Hip Hop" - 7:44
5. "Tropical Depression" - 7:39
6. "Red" - 6:03
7. "Lost Chords: I" - 9:07
8. "Lost Chords: II" - 4:23
9. "Lost Chords: III" - 3:41
   • Recorded live in Europe in October 2003.

Personnel

• 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...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Andy Sheppard
  Andy Sheppard
  Andy Sheppard is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow.-Biography:Sheppard was born in Warminster,...
  
   - tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• 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...
  
   - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Billy Drummond
  Billy Drummond
  Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond, Jr. is an American jazz drummer.Drummond learned jazz from an early age from his father, who was a drummer and a jazz enthusiast and whose record collection included many recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Buddy Rich and Elvin Jones, among others...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....