Jazz Articles about Charlie Haden

Charlie Haden/Egberto Gismonti: In Montreal

by C. Andrew Hovan
December 1, 2001

Back in 1989, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal organized several tribute concerts surrounding bassist Charlie Haden and many of his renowned peers. Of the various and sundry combinations put on display, the pairing of Haden with Brazilian composer and master musician Egberto Gismonti was surely the most inspired. Far from a marketing ploy, this duo seemed perfectly logical, considering that Haden and Gismonti had joined forces with Don Cherry a decade earlier to form Magico, a “world music” ...

Charlie Haden/Egberto Gismonti: In Montreal

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2001

Twelve years after the fact, this live duet performance from the 1989 Montreal Jazz Festival has finally been brought to light. It's a wonderful combination: Charlie Haden is comfortable in just about any setting (consider his tenures with Ornette Coleman, the Liberation Music Orchestra, and Keith Jarrett's American Quartet). Egberto Gismonti has been continuously honing and refining his idiosyncratic folk/jazz/Brazillian guitar (and piano) work on a couple dozen recordings in different settings since the '70s.

The '89 Montreal Jazz Festival ...

Michael Brecker: Nearness of You: The Ballad Book

by David Adler
July 1, 2001

There comes a time, it seems, when every major-label jazzer has to add a ballads album to his or her discography. That time has come for Michael Brecker, who enlists the formidable Pat Metheny as both producer and guitarist. Along for the ride are three players you may have heard of: Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, and Jack DeJohnette. The 11 tracks (divided into two five-track “chapters" and a one-track “epilogue") are flawlessly executed--practically airbrushed--and as mainstream as can be, but ...

Charlie Haden: The Art Of The Song

by John Sharpe
December 1, 1999

In the early-’60s bassist Charlie Haden worked with avant-garde jazz pioneers Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. In 1969 he founded The Liberation Music Orchestra, an aggregation committed to performing complex, politically charged music. When Haden formed Quartet West in 1986, listeners quickly noted that this group represented a 180 degree shift in his focus. Where the Liberation Orchestra was abrasive and confrontational, Quartet West wallowed in the nostalgic, accessible mainstream. The Art Of The Song is an evocative collection of ...

Chris Anderson & Charlie Haden: None But The Lonely Heart

by Joel Roberts
July 1, 1998

Chris Anderson is one of the unsung heroes of modern jazz piano. A revered figure among musicians, largely for his role as mentor to a young Herbie Hancock, Anderson has long been hindered by illness from aggressively pursuing his rightful place in the jazz limelight. As Charlie Haden poignantly states in the album's liner notes, “Chris is risking his life with every chord, that's how much it means to him." Although he has performed with everyone from Charlie Parker to ...

Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny: Beyond the Missouri Sky

by Dave Hughes
December 1, 1997

Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny, both Missouri natives and best friends, join forces for a mostly acoustic duet album. All of the tunes were recorded as duets for acoustic bass and guitar, and on roughly half of the tunes, Metheny overdubbed some “orchestral" backgrounds on synclavier or an additional acoustic guitar part. But these additions simply add texture and shading, and do not overplay the primary voices of the bass and guitar.

Sytlistically, this album is a departure for both ...

Pat Metheny / Charlie Haden: Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)

by Robert Middleton
November 1, 1997

On my first listen or two this album seemed at best to be pleasant background music. And it can certainly can be that. It's languid, relaxed melodies don't demand that you take special notice. Perfect music for a quite evening at home or a slow Sunday afternoon. But if that's all you got it would be a shame indeed. This is a very sweet collaboration between two musicians who love and respect each other and each other's music. Drawing from ...