Thanks PB. I am so moved. As portuguese I leave 2 stories: he was arrested in a jazz festival in Lisbon when he dedicated a song to the liberating army against portuguese colonial forces in Angola. He did a duo record with the great portuguese guitar( sort of fado 12 string mandoline) Carlos Paredes. He was always looking and finding hidden genius. And creating beauty for the times to come. CH❤
Charlie was the first musician that understood Ornette right out of the gate. I saw him with Ornette and Pat doing “Song X” with Jack DeJohnette. Mind bending! Around the same time I heard him with Old and New Dreams. Their version of “Lonely Woman” complements the original version in a warm and tender way.
I discovered Charlie Haden on an album named "Folk Songs" with Jan Garbarek on saxophones and Egberto Gismonti on guitar and piano. On this album, the last track is a Charlie Haden compo named "For Turyia" which gets me to tears every time.
Probably my favorite bassist. Listen to him with Keith Jarrett playing the lovely ‘Ellen David’. Saw him with Quartet West. Truly a night I’ll always cherish and remember! Thanks !
i love that this channel discusses acoustic/double bass as well as electric, it's inspiring to learn about players and recordings i might have never encountered otherwise!
1994. I was 1st chair of the bass section of the Junior Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. We had a 2 year stint serving as the "house orchestra" of the then new Verbier Festival in Switzerland. There was no internet at the time so I don't remember how I got the news of "Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra" performance at the Montreaux Jazz Festival happening just a short train ride from our festival! Turned out that show will take place on a free day for our orchestra! I pulled a few strings and got the whole bass section of the JIPO tickets for that show! we all went there together to see and hear the show and it was a fantastic experience....Thank you CH for all the music and soul.
Fantastic work - we Bass players don't appreciate Charlie Haden nearly enough, No one really comes close to that sound - it's as unique as Miles Davis sound was... his musicality Ah just sublime. Jasmin album with Keith Jarrett - For all we know.
This sounds so much more commanding and cohesive than a normal solo bass piece. I love that the rhythmic core is there the whole time and he owns the rests as much as the notes. So hard to string improvisation together with a medley in this way.
You must watch 1959: The Year That Changed Jazz (documentary- free on RU-vid if you can find it). The final chapter is on Ornette Colman's band with Charlie and the chaos that ensued when they came on the scene! Many in the jazz community hated them and the impact they were having. Stunning documentary and history!
Charlie Haden is one of my absolute favourite bass players. I learned so much about bass playing listening to him. 'Beyond the Missouri Sky' is one of my favourite records. I first saw him live with Pat Metheny on the 80/81 tour on 1. September 1981 and was stunned, how much more intense he was live (and everyone else too). I had listened to the record a hundred times at that moment but that was something else. It was one of the concerts I'll never forget (If I look back, all PM concerts from 1980 on are on that list 🙂). Another great bass player who i.m.h.o changed the way of playing double bass in a different unique but sometimes similar way and worth exploring is Eberhard Weber.
Would you ever consider an episode about Henry Grimes? Although his career had a long hiatus, his playing crossed many genres like Mr. Haden. His comeback was quite a tale in itself.
Soapsuds, Soapsuds with Ornette, and Treasure Island with Keith Jarrett are two more profound recordings! Thanks for shining a light on such a beautiful musician.
His work with Ornette Coleman is simply magic…. The shape of jazz to come (1959), change of the century (1960), this is our music (1961) and free jazz (1961) all blinding records….. 👍
Likewise Charlie is right up there for me. There are Virtuoso’s on the instrument and then there’s Virtuoso’s to the music and Charlie is the master of the latter. My good friend was lucky enough to studying with Charlie at CAL Arts in the 90’s as you can imagine I’ve many lessons and conversations with about what Charlie said and taught him and yes I use gut strings
Maybe a weird pick: Keith Jarrett's "Arbor Zena". That album really moves me and I can't imagine another bass player bringing more depth and beauty to that recording. If I could see ANY concert/gig in history-I see myself at one of Ornette Coleman's first gigs at The Five Spot. Sitting at one of their tiny tables in direct earshot of Haden's bass. Everyone's skin has the sheen of sweat. It is steamy and smoky. For anyone in that room, this is not an annoyance, but just an natural part of the vibe .
Unique 100% correct. Love Charlie and I think his early musical experiences as a child really contributed to his musical vocabulary. Solo bass version of Lonely Women 🔥 Love Old and New Dreams and all the Montreal tapes.
Masterful work here!! I highly recommend watching 1959: The Year That Changed Jazz (documentary- free on RU-vid if you can find it). The final chapter is on Ornette Colman's band with Charlie and the chaos that ensued when they came on the scene! Many in the jazz community hated them and the impact they were having. Stunning documentary and history!
One of my favorite Haden moments - and a favorite thing in life - is what he does during the last 30 seconds of "The Long Goodbye" from the Quartet West album HAUNTED HEART 🥰
What a wonderful tribute. I have so many records with Charlie Haden--I think because if I see he's on something I trust it will be outstanding. His work on Survivor Suite and Abour Zena is almost painfully beautiful. I did have one personal encounter; I was seating at his feet in the McDonel Kiva at MSU on 11/4/80, a very informal gig in which all the band members were setting up their own gear. He made a face of such terrible distress that I involuntarily blurted out "is everything okay?" He looked at me sadly and said "I just heard Reagan won the election."
The one thing that strikes me about Charlie Haden is, no. matter who he was playing with, they always sounded their best. That takes a great musician/collaborator.
Love your channel, man! It’s great that you used my upload-just at random, I clipped that from a film and put it up on RU-vid right before he died, not having any idea he would pass away only weeks later. I was so happy it was available online then, so people could immediately appreciate Charlie’s genius in a solo context. Anyway thanks for another wonderful video!
The duo album he did with metheny is my favourite album of both of there discography it's beautiful and the playing on that made me pick up the double bass having played electic for years.
Do you remember Bass Frontiers Magazine? David Enos did a piece on Charlie back in the day that turned me on to him. This was a great episode today! Thanks for your hard work!
Charlie's my favourite bass player too. My fave album featuring him is Mourning Of A Star By Keith Jarrett and I love that trio of Charlie Haden, Keith Jarrett and Paul Motian, and have their albums as well as various unofficial recordings from radio broadcasts of them playing a European tour in the early 70's. His solo in the overture of Carla Bley's Escalator Over The Hill is like the sun coming up!
Absolutely agree. Thank you for posting such an insightful and knowledgable tribute to this great Master. I was drawn to him from his work with Ornette, Carla Bley's big band arrangments, Quartet West -- and you read my mind with the Hampton Hawes duo reference. I had the chance to see him playing for free with local musicians in a Los Angeles public park in the mid-80s. His "woody" tone, flowing with gravitas and Zen-like "now-ness" (as if Mother Nature herself were singing) gets me every time. I'm so glad you acknowledged it. I'm a sax player/drummer coming across your channel for the first time -- best to you!
along with dave holland, he was the man who convinced me to pick up this instrument. still is in my top 3 for biggest inspirations, along with people who were most defiantly influenced by him was also always fun hearing him be self referential and quote old folk songs. e.g. the solos on song for che, ramblin, two folk songs, etc. monk said Bb is the people's key but for bassists i think it might be D!
Joe Henderson, Al Foster, and Haden live in Montreal...I forget the year...Daaaamn! Darek Oles, among many others, carries the Haden vibe forward, in a unique and profound way... Fantastic tribute, thank you!🤗
Nocturne is one of my favourite Charlie albums as is the Trio Album Alone Together with Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau & Charlie Haden Charlie’s 2 feel and breaking up time is masterful and his solo’s are so musical, beautifully sounding and very direct.
Bruh, not only do you make some of the best funk face while playing beautifully, you make some of the best funk face while listening to others play beautifully... I especially love Charlie's work with Ornette.
Saw Charlie with Ornette at the Newport Jazz Festival 1971. Blew my mind, to say the least. Other bassists performing that day included Mingus, and the New York Bass Violin Choir, featuring Ron Carter, Milt Hinton, Richard Davis, Bill Lee (Spike's dad) and others. BASS HEAVEN.
Recently saw Metheny when he came to Atlanta on his solo tour. He played Waltz For Ruth and a few others from Beyond The Missouri Sky. I do love 80/81, particularly the title track but the free stuff such as Open is fantastic. It's hard to get a handle on how he could play free, anticipating and complimenting what somebody else is playing or has played. But I have that Ornette Atlantic Years box set. I will dig it out. Great editing with that spoken word coda! Very emotional!
"80/81" is one of my all time favorites! The Shape of Jazz To Come - with Ornette Coleman "Rejoicing"- Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. "Time On My Hands" - John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden, and Jack DeJohnette "Beyond The Missouri Skies" - Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden There are so many more!!
Great video, as always, I simply love Charlie. There are so many good things on the A Shape Of Jazz To Come, but from the first notes when you hear that great bass playing, it's just something different.
Great musician! There´s even a blues cd by old bluesman James Cotton with Joe Luis Walker on guitar and Charlie Haden on bass.He really coul de all around
Absolutely the greatest influence on my playing and musical journey. Thank you so much for all your content, but especially for this particular video. In a world where chops can be the defining end all be all for musicians, Charlie made melody, nuance, ears and beauty his calling card. Thank you
Great video Paul! I've always felt that Haden's roots in folk music was a grounding factor in Ornette Coleman's recordings. He seems to be able to play freely while maintaining a sense of phrasing and cadence whenever it's called for. I never knew about the gut strings. His tone is phenomenal! Love every project he's been involved in!
Thanks PD! No real words except thanks to you & C.H.! He gave me confidence to be different 30yo, and your acknowledgment cements that, Thanks! All the Best Dude! :)
Thanks for putting a well deserved spotlight on the great Charlie Haden. A honorable mention must go to the outro of Bruce Hornsby's song 'Stander On The Mountain' from the album 'A Night On The Town' (1990) where Charlie's presence really comes to the forefront. By the way: I'm a drummer not a bassist but always had a soft spot for great basslines (as every drummer should). I'd love to see you discuss 4 absolute giants of the instrument: 1.) Renaud Garcia-Fons, e g 'Oriental Bass' (1997), or any track from 'The Marcevol Concert' (2012) 2.) Jeff Berlin, especially his stellar work on Bill Bruford's 1979 album 'One Of A Kind' 3.) Tony Levin (too many great records to choose from) 4.) Larry Klein, criminally overlooked bassist/producer, also Joni Mitchell's ex-husband, who played on her 1982 record 'Wild Things Run Fast' and subsequent albums like 'Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm' (1988), or 'Turbulent Indigo' (1994). Also check out his contribution to Robbie Robertson's self-titled solo album (1987) on the track 'Showdown At Big Sky'. Thanks again and keep up the good work !
I was lucky enough to see him live in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall. I was in college at the University of the Pacific, so I drove over 80 miles to see him in a duo with . . . DON CHERRY! So that was it. Bass and Pocket Trumpet. What more could you want?
all of his montreal tape records are awesome! so many records with Haden are simply magical, he was a pnce in a lifetime musician. best bass channel , period i was fortunate enough to see him live with Gonzalo Rubalcaba in Montreal playing the Nocturnes album in the early 2000’s
Love his playing on the album Deep in the Blues by James Cotton with Joe Louis Walker. Especially the track Ozark Mountain Railroad. He has that same amazing tone with all the “tree wood”you talk about under his fingers.
My favorite record with Haden is "Gemini" by Sir Roland Hanna Trio, a masterpiece. I will never forget the first time I heard in a vinyl store in Barcelona, there was a chair where I have to sit down to assimilate what's happening. Thank you for share this !
Bill Plummer, another great upright bass player used to organize a jazz festival in Wyoming I used to provide sound for, brought in Charlie Hayden once. As monitor engineer, I had the front row seat to some very awesome musicians. All the bass players at these events were good. But Bill and Charlie would drive the entire band like a tractor beam, for lack of a better description.
I saw Charlie Haden at a jazz club around the late 1980's. I was still in college then. I came up to him after a set and had a conversation with him. One of the things that I asked him about was the concept of playing out or atonal, abstract. I would wonder what guys think about and their note choices are when playing out. He told me, and I'll always remember this, "is what you're playing beautiful? Is it beautiful?"
Thank you for an eye-opening appreciation. I must confess I was more into his old roomate Scott Lafaro. Though I was always moved by his conviction, wisdom and inspired by the story of him performing amidst death threats and truly putting your oft quoted maxim of his to the test.
I loved when he used to snap his index finger against his Palm after striking a note and you could hear the snap. I would give you an example but it's been over 25 years since I have had any recordings because I lost everything a few times because of a terrible addiction problem. When I first started playing around the age of 18 I was mesmerized by Charlie haden and ornette and was going that route but when I was going to jam sessions in Washington DC everyone was telling me that if I wanted to work I had to learn tunes so I could play the club date jobs and put on a tuxedo, and having two children by the age of 22 that is what I started doing and got away from pursuing my love of Charlie haden ...one of my biggest regrets ..now that I am almost 70 and I don't even have a stand-up bass and just play the guitar background music at restaurants to make a few extra dollars to supplement my social security check. My recommendation to any young bass players out there that also love Charlie haden and that music is get a good teacher and get good technique and when you're ready go to New York and start talking and playing with other musicians and don't think that you can do everything on your own. That was my downfall was my inability to approach other people and not reaching out to better players. Oh and don't go to New York until your financially prepared and know at least a few people over there so when you get there you don't end up sleeping at a $12 a night flop House in the bowery !! I'll never forget what Gary Bartz told me one time. Even bad bass players work in New York 😎 what a great job you did in this video and I hope to see more of the things that you do on RU-vid. Now I'm on my way to New Mexico to see if they'll take $50 a month for that bass you were talking about :-) haha😂
Haden was the first guy that came to my awareness as a kid that made me realize - "Wait - there are god-tier *bass* players?" The guy must've had a grip like gravity - he's really powering into it with both hands. You can tell for one because it seems to my ear that a lot of ppl have difficulty (on all kinds of stringed instruments) in keeping tonal balance - it can be very noticeable on double bass because they just can't make the low notes sing out as well. If anything his were stronger in some passages. If I may make a suggestion - when you give a list like that, if you would put it into the description (even if just text, but links would be nice), then it would make it easier for ppl to just copy that info instead of going back to the end of the video and manually writing all that down. For that matter (looking at your website) if you did a short accompanying write-up on your blog with that info and linked it here you might drive engagement back-and-forth. I had a little chuckle at the two lint rollers back there on the shelf - gotta keep those black t-shirts pristine for the camera, eh? 😁
@@pdbass So I was putting this together as a playlist on YT music (and I clearly misinterpreted what I was reading, as it's just under 5 hours) and I can't find any mention of "What Is This Thing Called Love" on As Long As There's Music. There's a song called "This Is Called Love", but apparently it's Haden / Hawes, and not Porter. So that's the song you meant to reference?
@refisherdesktop you are correct. The song is from that album, but it was written by Cole Porter and I gave him credit as the composer. Thank you for watching!
I purchased "Art of The Song" to bask in the voice of the great Shirley Horn. However, it turned out to be my introduction to Charlie Hayden's unique bass playing.
Thank! You! "What he played, and the WAY he played." In classical music I feel that there are composers who perfected an existing language (Mozart) others who hybridized multiple styles into something dazzling (Stravinsky) and others who just walked into the room with something fully formed that we all just need to take on board (Debussy). I think that your presentation really gets across what makes Charlie Haden a Debussy/Stravinsky-type of figure. The bringing together of deep folk music roots and advanced jazz is an innovation and a huge gift to all creative musicians of our day. Thanks for the space to ramble here. I was really inspired by what you showed us.
Great episode about an extraordinary artist. Thanks a lot for this! His son Josh's work with his band, Spain, definitely deserves to be checked out, too
Thank you for this! Haden is a player I knew by name and reputation, but I had not *knowingly* heard a great deal of his work. As it turns out, I probably heard far more than I was aware of. Now that I know, I’ll be on the watch for more. I also want to say how much I admire that ‘doghouse’ of yours! I have never seen such elaborate purfling on a double bass. It’s lovely-and you ain’t no slouch as a player, either. Again: Thank you. ♥️♥️♥️
On the solo part of this video 1:00, His technique sounds similar to the one Stanley Clarke used when he performed the song "Touch". Now I see where Stanley got that from.
Another thoughtful videos filled with things I have to listen to. We are fortunate to have so many great jazz bass players who all have their own unique take on the instrument and how they influenced the music of the groups they played with. Haden's voice was wonderful and unique.
Cool! Always enjoyed his musicianship. There is a performance with Ginger Baker and Bill Frissel on RU-vid that is pretty amazin if you have not seen it.
What a musical legacy, too. His son Josh Haden is the lead singer and bassist of Spain, and daughters Rachel, Tanya, and Petra played with that dog., Weezer, The Rentals, The Decemberists, Silversun Pickups, and more. All of them huge contributors to alternative music in the 90s and 2000s.
Wow, the Last citation was Just mindblowing as we Expect Improvisation to be something outgoing and creating inatead of ingoing and rebinding - thank you so much for this superimportant perspective change :-)
Charlie Haden's bass lines had everything you could want. His lines were original and always very melodic. He followed the soloist wherever they went, instantly. He often doubled notes to give space when needed, but also knew how to build energy and anticipation when needed. His vocabulary is completely unique. Many jazz musicians and educators didn't (and still don't) recognize his greatness likely because they couldn't do what him and Ornette were doing. His playing is deep and doesn't utilize the vocabulary of bassists like Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, etc. Like Lennie Tristano, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and a few others, Charlie Haden carved out a new path in jazz music that wasn't just an addition to the past, it was something completely new. Every bassist is studying to play like Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Ron Carter and many can do so very well. But studying Charlie Haden is completely different and helps bring back the creativity that gets lost in improvised music.
thanks for the video, PD!! I am also a Haden fan, started listening to him on the Quartet West recordings. He's got so many recordings it's hard to know them all. My fav recording (of the ones I know) is the Night and the CIty duo recording with Kenny Barron. And was blessed to hear him live with Pat Metheny in Germany on the Missouri Sky tour of the early 2000s. Amazing experience. Also, I thought Roberston's had sold that instrument already, like a few years ago! I'm gonna be in that neighborhood in a few months, time to make a phone call....
