Musique Mecanique

Musique Mecanique is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in 1978 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1979.

Reception
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars and stated "Carla Bley's tentet performs some of her most colorful themes on this often-humorous and generally stimulating set". The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 3 stars. Robert Christgau commented, "I'm still attracted to Bley's humor, best displayed here in the title piece, a wry take on the charms and imperfections of the mechanical mode. But this is basically desultory, hinting at the feckless formalism an obsession with textures so often conceals. Beyond the jokes, and the deliberately aborted moments of lyricism, she really doesn't have much to say. Weill sure did. And so did Satie."

Track listing
All compositions by Carla Bley.
 * 1) "440" - 9:48
 * 2) "Jesus Maria and Other Spanish Strains" - 11:54
 * 3) "Musique Mecanique I" - 9:46
 * 4) "Musique Mecanique II (At Midnight)" - 7:02
 * 5) "Musique Mecanique III" - 6:28

Personnel

 * Carla Bley - organ, piano (track 2), toy piano (track 3)
 * Michael Mantler - trumpet
 * Alan Braufman - alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
 * Gary Windo - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, vocal
 * John Clark - french horn
 * Roswell Rudd - trombone, vocal on "Musique Mecanique II (At Midnight)"
 * Bob Stewart - tuba
 * Terry Adams - piano, electric pump organ
 * Steve Swallow - bass guitar
 * D. Sharpe - drums
 * Charlie Haden - acoustic bass (track 2)
 * Eugene Chadbourne - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, walkie-talkie (track 2)
 * Karen Mantler - glockenspiel