The stuff from the 1980s almost seems to be written with 'airplay potential' in mind. I'm thinking of albums such as 'Night Glo'. First time I heard these records was in Germany, where Ms Bley had quite a strong following at the time.
I remember the time Bley & band played the Collegiate Theatre at UCL, London as a free concert, just for the students. The first I heard of it was my next door neighbour of the time raving about how great it was (Valente, Windo, Mantler, Swallow, D Sharpe etc) and commenting that I should have been there.