Jazz Articles about Charlie Haden

About Charlie Haden

Reanimating Conversations Past

Charlie Haden: Anatomy of a Jazz Classic

by John Ephland
August 31, 2026

It was a phoner from the suburban Chicago offices of DownBeat to bassist Charlie Haden in L.A. Our talk, which was held on September 15, 1991, was periodically interrupted by his needing to say, “Hold on one second." The occasion? The 30th anniversary of the release of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's groundbreaking LP Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. To this day, though, I do not recall this interview ever being published at the magazine. And to think that I talked with ...

Radio & Podcasts

Last recordings of jazz greats in the 21st century

by Larry Slater
September 26, 2025

Creative artists rarely retire. Jazz musicians often continue to perform and record as they age. In this hour you'll hear the final musical statements of jazz musicians in the 21st century.The pianist Hank Jones, whose career spanned over 70 years, recorded his last session at 91. Charlie Haden and Carla Bley knew they were seriously ill when they recorded their last sessions. Both left us with remarkable legacies Chick Corea's death at 79 shocked the jazz world. His ...

Album Review

Alan Shorter: Mephistopholes to Orgasm Revisited

Read "Mephistopholes to Orgasm Revisited" reviewed by Stefano Merighi

by Stefano Merighi
June 20, 2025

In questo CD dedicato ad Alan Shorter (tromba, flicorno, composizione) si ripropongono le sedute integrali di Orgasm (1968), precedute però da “Mephistopheles," di tre anni precedente, che figurava nella scaletta di The All Seeing Eye, del più celebre fratello Wayne. È un pezzo di una cupezza angosciante, sostenuto da un pedale ritmico minaccioso, dalle cui spire fioriscono severi interventi dei fiati e delle percussioni. Con i due fratelli Shorter, suonano James Spaulding (alto), Freddie Hubbard (tromba), Grachan Moncur III (trombone), ...

Radio & Podcasts

New Releases And Haden On Black Saint & Soul Note

by Bob Osborne
March 20, 2025

On this edition of World of Jazz, alongside a great selection of new releases, there is a look back at the excellent five album box set which comprises all of the recordings Charlie Haden made for Black Saint and Soul Note record labels.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Brad Mccarthy's Cannon Fodder “Fun" from Live at JMI (4000 Records) 00:29 Believers--Brad Shepik, Sam Minaie , John Hadfield “Rocinante" from Hard Believer (Shifting Paradigm Records) 08:34 The Ostara Project “Dreams and ...

Album Review

Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz to Ornette! Revisited

Read "Free Jazz to Ornette! Revisited" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
October 14, 2024

Che cosa si può dire ancora di un'opera che ha stravolto il corso del jazz, uno di quegli snodi dopo i quali--qui fin dal titolo--nulla può essere più come prima? Punti di svolta decisivi e ineludibili che cambiano il corso di un'arte, pietre miliari come Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in pittura, l'Ulysses di Joyce in letteratura, o più specificatamente in poesia Un coup de dés di Mallarmé? Nulla, appunto, perché tutto dev'essere per forza di cose già stato detto e scritto, ...

Album Review

Ornette Coleman: Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited

Read "Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
August 2, 2024

For ezz-thetics' revisited series' fourth Ornette Coleman album, the label has ventured back further than any of its previous Coleman albums, to New York City in December 1960 and January 1961. Recorded at A&R Studios on Wednesday December 21st 1960 from 8pm to 12.30am, the Free Jazz session produced two pieces, the thirty-seven minute “Free Jazz" itself, which was issued in September 1961 on an Atlantic album entitled Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation By The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet, and ...

Album Review

Alan Shorter: Mephistopholes To Orgasm Revisited

Read "Mephistopholes To Orgasm Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
January 22, 2024

It is often said of a musician, be they alive or no longer with us, that they deserve to be better known. This is emphatically true of the wayward trumpeter and composer Alan Shorter, who was overshadowed during his lifetime by his brother, Wayne Shorter, and who continues to be passed over today in 2024. Some responsibility for his obscurity lies with Alan Shorter himself. Known as Doc Strange to his teenage schoolmates in Newark, New Jersey, ...