I Hate to Sing

I Hate to Sing is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded at the Great American Music Hall in 1981 (at the same concerts that produced Live!) combined with three tracks recorded at Grog Kill Studios in 1983 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1984.[1][2]

I Hate to Sing
Live album by
Carla Bley
Released1984
RecordedAugust 19–21, 1981 & January 11–13, 1983
GenreJazz
Length48:09
LabelWatt/ECM
ProducerCarla Bley
Carla Bley chronology
Live!
(1981)		 I Hate to Sing
(1984)		 Heavy Heart
(1983)

Reception

The Allmusic review by Stacia Proefrock awarded the album 2½ stars and stated "here the airy, goofy tone seems to be the only thing holding the album together. Fans of the Carla Bley Band will appreciate the group's jovial performance and loose, swinging style, but this is little more than a novelty album".[3] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 2 stars.[4] The JazzTimes review by Willard Jenkins said "There's a comic, antic quality afoot here-and isn't that what one expects from Bley in regular doses? The dose is over the top here, particularly on the title track. Certain band members, including the boss, take turns letting the listener know in no uncertain terms why they are instrumentalists and not singers. Dissonant voices collide with dissonant chords on track one, anchored by Steve Swallow's distinctive electric bass on "The Internationale." This one is perhaps even more madcap than usual because of the confluence of flat, non-singing singers balanced with a sort of Germanic romanticism that in places would have brought a smile to Kurt Weill".[5]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Penguin Guide to Jazz[4]
Tom HullB+ ((3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention))[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Carla Bley.

  1. "The Internationale" - 5:58
  2. "Murder" - 3:57
  3. "Very Very Simple" - 6:47
  4. "I Hate to Sing" - 8:22
  5. "The Piano Lesson" - 6:08
  6. "The Lone Arranger" - 9:06
  7. "Battleship" - 7:53
  • Recorded at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California on August 19–21, 1981 (tracks 1-4) and at Grog Kill Studio, Willow, New York on January 11–13, 1983 (tracks 5-7).

Personnel

References
  1. Carla Bley discography accessed August 3, 2010
  2. ECM/WATT discography Archived 2016-09-16 at the Wayback Machine accessed August 25, 2016
  3. Proefrock, S. Allmusic Review accessed August 3, 2010
  4. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
  5. Jenkins, W. I Hate to Sing Review JazzTimes, May, 1997
  6. Hull, Tom (28 February 2018). "Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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