Charlie Haden RIP

[Paul Campbell]

Many will be saddened to hear of the passing of the great Charlie Haden. From his early work with Ornette onwards, I think few bassists have given me as much pleasure as Mr Haden. RIP

[Paul Campbell]

http://youtu.be/kqwdRBWvPs0

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"Very sad news:

The legendary bassist was 76,
and for the last few years had
been suffering from the
effects of post-polio
syndrome. Haden, who
performed in Confederation
Park in 2008 with his Quartet
West band, had been
considerably weakened since
2011 – almost unable to
swallow, and definitely unable
to perform."

Awful news.

One of the legends.

BN.


"“All recordings attempt to
do that. It doesn’t matter
if you’re playing “Body and
Soul” or “The People
United Will Never be
Defeated.” Jazz has
always been an art form of
struggle. It’s a political
struggle to get the music
heard. Whether it’s my
new album, or the
Liberation Music Orchestra
tour, we’re trying to
change the direction this
country and this
administration is going.
It’s not like the CD is
going to change the
election. But voicing my
concerns is vital. That’s
what I tried to do on the
first three Liberation
Music Orchestra records.
Voicing my concerns about
Vietnam, El Salvador,
everything that was
happening during the first
Bush’s administration that
always ended up sending
our country into a tragic
direction.”

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

From "Do the Math" 2008.

"In August 2007, Charlie invited Brad
Mehldau, Kenny Barron, Paul Bley
and me to take turns playing duo
with him at the Blue Note in New
York. The music was an informal
70th birthday celebration, and
likewise this discussion (taped
during the same week) is an
incomplete survey of his long and
vital career.

We began at the beginning. I am of
the firm opinion that there are two
kinds of Ornette Coleman music:
the kind with Charlie Haden on
bass, and the kind without.
---
EI: When I was at your house in
L.A., we looked at all your original
Ornette LPs, including the ones
with Scott LaFaro and Jimmy
Garrison. I asked you whom you
liked better with Ornette, LaFaro or
Garrison. An expression of real pain
crossed your face and you muttered
something about how it was hard
for you to listen to any other bassist
with Ornette. I think you have the
right to say that.

CH: Oh, I mean, Scotty and Jimmy
are great bassists. But -- and this is
selfish -- when I hear someone else
with Ornette, I always hear the
notes I would play and the sound
that I would use… not theirs."


BN.

[Jazzrook]

Very sad news: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN0TNNSlaX0

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

a great artist

his work with Ornette Coleman is clearly important but i also adore his Quartet West recordings:

[Paul Campbell]

Me too Calum. I had a lovely chat with Ernie Watts at Birdland a few years ago when he was playing with Kurt Elling, and was able to say how much I admire that body of work.

I love this too... http://youtu.be/ktfh2uQlbDo

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Me too Calum. I had a lovely chat with Ernie Watts at Birdland a few years ago when he was playing with Kurt Elling, and was able to say how much I admire ths body of work.

I love this too... http://youtu.be/ktfh2uQlbDo

The duo sides with Hampton Hawes...The truly moving Living Legend with Art Pepper...

BN.

[burning dog]

Quartet West recordings are excellent as stated. Such a distinctive bass player.

[charles t]

Charlie was a true musical hero...as one obit mentioned, he took up he bass when childhood polio affected his voice and he couldn't sing in his folks' little band.

And my own unforgettable evening of catching the Liberation Jazz Orch after unknowingly consuming our pre-concert libations on a runway of the Santa Monica airport!

As well as hearing more Liberation charts played by the CalArts student orch, led by Charlie - in my neighborhood.

A soulful tune - Spiritual - composed by his son, Josh Haden would be a fitting musical tribute within any final rite for this jazz legend.

[charles t]

Or, with a trio of Ornette Coleman, (Smilin') Billy Higgins and Charlie playing in an old L.A. movie theatre with no air-conditioning. (Don Cherry cancelled because of illness).

Despite this, people were standing-up cheering Charlie's solo on the closing tune!

[Ian Thumwood]

It's funny how the idea of bass solos can seem an anathema with regard to maintaining interest. For me, it's difficult arguing that the bass solos generally don't take the momentum out of performances. I think that Charlie Haden was unique insofar that his soloing tended to be hugely compelling and when it comes to pizzicato playing no one else could match the lyrical nature of his playing which really drew you in to what he was producing.

I accept that the recordings with Ornette Coleman will remain towering performances but there was so much more to his work. for me, "The ballad of the fallen" remains one of the greatest jazz albums of the 1980's and easily within the top 5 produced by ECM. Staggering to think how many musicians on that wonderful record are no longer with us. I would also have to include the music he produced with the Geri Allen trio with Paul Motian as well the trio with Paul Bley on "Memories" which is the epitome of the piano trio well beyond the bar previously set by Motian / Bill Evans / LaFaro which had previously set the standard. "Beyond the Missouri Sky" with Pat Metheny is also indicative of his lyrical abilities as well as his affinity for more song-driven material as well as progressive. "Time on my hands" with John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette and Joe Lovano is also a defining record from the late 1980's and the more horizontal lines where Haden is feeling for the next note are an integral component of that record.

For me there as bassists who have driven bands as well as those like Jimmy Blanton, Marc Johnson or Dave Holland who have taken this instrument to higher technical levels. Like Charlie Mingus or William Parker, Charlie Haden is one of the few bassists who has imposed his unique personal style to the instrument and jazz will be immensely poorer for his loss. One of my absolute heroes.

[Paul Campbell]

This is Spiritual that Charles mentioned....

http://youtu.be/WbYYOoDlNZc

The triplets are very talented too, particularly Petra.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Haden plainly sought that universal feeling all his life, and the astonishing thing is how wonderfully he was able to share it with the rest of us, to make us see that labels like country and jazz and so forth are more marketing labels than anything else, that American music is in fact best understood as a broad and powerful river, sweeping aside all genre distinctions. And on that river, Charlie Haden was our Huck Finn.

from an appreciative essay

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

CH: Yeah, that's true… Reminds me of the
time that Dexter Gordon came to see us
rehearse at the Hillcrest. After listening
quietly for a while in the back, he came up
to stage, sat on a bar stool, and asked, "You
cats ever play any standards?"
Ornette said, "Sure, man! What would you
like to hear?"
"How about 'Embraceable You'?"
Ornette picked up his horn and played two
phrases. Then he put his horn back down,
looked at Dexter and said, "That's it."
Dexter scratched his head, took another
puff of his cigarette, and said, "Thank you,
man."
I think that moment is one of the reasons
we recorded that song on This Is Our Music.
EI: I love Ornette's introduction to
"Embraceable You."
CH: Yeah, man! In those days, the harmony
in the horns was real harmony. Later, the
harmony was all parallel…
EI: Ah, harmolodics.
CH: I would say to Ornette, "That's parallel
harmony! It sounds Oriental or something."
But that's what he wanted.".....from Do the Maths.

Always makes me smile.


BN.