Avant-garde jazz pianist Paul Bley has died at his Florida home. He was 83.
The publicist for Bley's record label, ECM Records, said today that Bley died of natural causes Sunday at his Stuart home.
Born November 10, 1932, in Montreal, Bley began studying music at age 5 and formed his first band at age 13. While still a teenager, Bley replaced Oscar Peterson at the Alberta Lounge and he co-founded the Montreal Jazz Workshop, where he invited Charlie Parker to play.
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He studied at Julliard in the 1950s, and in the 1960s he pioneered using electric pianos and synthesizers. In a career spanning seven decades, he played and recorded with Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Chet Baker and many other musicians.
Private memorial services are planned.