Let's make this birthday one to remember.

88 years old (Born on May 11, 1936)

Happy Birthday, Carla Bley! May your celebrations be as delightfully unpredictable and creatively chaotic as "Escalator Over The Hill." Your groundbreaking jazz opera still has us joyously scratching our heads decades later—proof that genius never goes out of style.

From pioneering the free jazz movement in the '60s to inspiring countless artists (including a certain ex-husband named Paul), you've composed music that's both timelessly innovative and wonderfully quirky. Here's hoping this birthday hits all the right notes—and if it doesn't, we know you'll improvise brilliantly anyway. Cheers to you, Carla; keep ascending those escalators over many more hills ahead!