Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name

501

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name

By

View read count
Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name
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 little big band music it will ever be your pleasure to hear.

Haden and Bley founded the Liberation Music Orchestra in '69, and this is only the band's fourth album in 35 years. The title Not In Our Name comes from the window posters displayed by householders throughout Europe in protest at the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq—Haden noticed the posters while on tour in '03.

Moved to create an album which articulated his own and many other Americans' opposition to the war, Haden reassembled the LMO and asked Bley to arrange material by a wide range of American composers—from Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Bley and himself to Antonin Dvorak and Samuel Barber.

Haden says he chose all American composers because he wanted make a statement that "just because you're not for everything that this administration is doing, doesn't mean that you're not patriotic." To emphasise that point, the medley "America The Beautiful" includes the African-American anthem "Lift Every Voice And Sing" and Coleman's "Skies Of America," while Bley's gutsily reggaefied arrangement of Metheny's "This Is Not America" quotes "Dixie," "The Star Spangled Banner," and "Battle Hymn Of The Republic." The bitter- sweet, ironic inclusion of iconic patriotic anthems within Not In Our Name is underscored by the strange and dissonant voicings Bley employs in her arrangements. You hear things differently, and maybe you understand them differently too, just like Bley and Haden intend.

On a purely artistic level, the music is stunning throughout. Michael Rodriguez's warm and embracing trumpet references both Chet Baker and Fats Navarro, and his showcase "Goin' Home" is one of many highlights; Ahnee Sharon Freeman and Joe Daley are awesome, their French horn and tuba playing truly astonishing, genius achievements; Steve Cardenas' guitar is a South of the Border delight; and the sax section is comprised of three stone stellar giants. Haden and Bley solo infrequently, but beautifully.

"So now," writes Haden in his liner notes, "although we lost the election, we have not lost the commitment to reclaim our country in the name of humanity and decency. Don't give up—the struggle continues!" It continues in little ol' England too.

Track Listing

Not In Our Name; This Is Not America; Blue Anthem; America The Beautiful (Medley); Amazing Grace; Goin' Home; Throughout; Adagio (from Adagio For Strings).

Personnel

Charlie Haden
bass, acoustic

Charlie Haden: bass; Carla Bley: piano; Miguel Zenon: alto saxophone; Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone; Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone; Michael Rodriguez: trumpet; Seneca Black: trumpet; Curtis Fowlkes: trombone; Ahnee Sharon Freeman: french horn; Joe Daley: tuba; Steve Cardenas: guitar; Matt Wilson: drums.

Album information

Title: Not In Our Name | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Verve Music Group

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.