Jazz Articles about Charlie Haden

Charlie Haden: The Private Collection

by Joel Roberts
June 12, 2008

To commemorate bassist extraordinaire Charlie Haden's 70th birthday, the British boutique label Naim has released this two-disc set of vintage Haden concerts from the late '80s. Both shows were recorded in intimate settings before friends and family: the first a 1987 birthday gig in Los Angeles and the second a homecoming show in Missouri a few months later. The two dates feature bands that are basically Haden's bebop-focused Quartet West, along with a pair of superb guest ...

Charlie Haden: The Private Collection

by John Kelman
May 31, 2008

Originally released as limited edition single discs sets, bass icon Charlie Haden and specialty audiophile label Naim Audio finally give The Private Collection broader release. Two CDs documenting two concerts with his then relatively nascent Quartet West from 1987 and 1988, it's also a dovetail to The Best of Quartet West (Verve, 2007), prefacing Haden's 2008 summer tour with founding members Alan Broadbent (piano), Ernie Watts (saxophones) and newcomer Rodney Green (drums). The 1987 show was in celebration ...

Charlie Haden / Antonio Forcione: Heartplay

by John Kelman
August 25, 2007

Fans of Charlie Haden's lyrical duet album with guitarist Pat Metheny, Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve, 1997), will find the bassist's collaboration with guitarist Antonio Forcione, Heartplay not the same, but certainly a not-too-distant cousin. Unlike Metheny, however, who utilizes an array of acoustic and electric instruments, Forcione works strictly with nylon string acoustic guitar here, making Heartplay a less texturally diverse record, but an appealing one nevertheless.

The set of eight tunes is split almost equally between Haden and ...

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name

by Ken Franckling
October 12, 2005

Bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Carla Bley, two of the more eclectic and versatile people in jazz, make a great team as musical conceptualists as a they draw on a shared vision and Bley's knack for sometimes off-kilter large ensemble arranging. It has been 37 years since Charlie Haden and Carla Bley formed the first edition of Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra at the height of the Vietnam War. This edition launched an international tour in 2004 that ...

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name

by Chris May
August 31, 2005

This empowering masterpiece of an album succeeds brilliantly on at least three levels: as proof that instrumental jazz can be as powerful a protest music as the lyric-based Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan tradition; as demonstration that at least one corner of the domestic American opposition to the Bush administration is in strong and resonant form; and as confirmation that Charlie Haden and Carla Bley's shared musical vision for the Liberation Music Orchestra can still produce some of the richest, most singular ...

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name

by John Kelman
August 29, 2005

Whether or not music can have a social and/or political conscience in and of itself is often debated, but that it can respond to such conditions is unquestionable. From Dave Douglas' Witness, which stemmed from concerns about unilateral political action, to Pat Metheny Group's The Way Up, a considered response to the “dumbing down of society, music may not be able to effect change, but it can certainly act as a rallying point, a considered expression of intentions that go ...

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not in Our Name

by Jim Santella
August 28, 2005

You can feel protest in the alto saxophone wails that Miguel Zenon delivers on “This is Not America." You can feel unity in the traditional melody of “Amazing Grace," as Charlie Haden “spreads the word" as bass soloist with Carla Bley comping on piano. You can feel the anticipation rising as a solitary trumpeter interprets “Goin' Home" in the manner of a bugler comforting an extended family and guiding them through unanticipated funeral ceremonies.

You can feel the ...