CHARLIE HADEN'S LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA - Live 1993
Equinox Music – EQCD6001
Alto & Soprano Saxophone – Ken McIntyre; Bass – Charlie Haden; French Horn – Sharon Freeman; Guitar – Mick Goodrick; Percussion – Mark Burton; Piano – Amina Claudine Myers; Tenor Saxophone – Javon Jackson, Joe Lovano; Trombone – Ray Anderson; Trumpet – Earl Gardner, Tim Hagans, Tom Harrell; Tuba – Joe Daley
Vocals – Amina Claudine Myers
Charlie Haden’s death in 2014 was a grievous loss to jazz, not only musically but politically. Charlie who started the Music Liberation Orchestra in 1969 was always outspoken. It is not difficult to guess how Charlie Haden would vote in the forthcoming presidential election. In 1971 he was touring Europe with Ornette Coleman. The date in Lisbon took place while Portugal was under the dictator Salazar. Portugal at that time had colonies in Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique and was fighting nationalist movements in these regions. During the concert Haden dedicated his composition ‘Song for Che’ to the liberation movements. His reward- was a standing ovation from the audience; an arrest by the police, with a day spent in custody before the American embassy secured his release.
This concert was broadcast and recorded by WGBH Boston at the Somerville Theatre, Somerville, Mass. U.S.A. on 14th March 1993. It must have been a very wintry occasion. The intention was to play music from the ‘Dream Keeper’ album that had been recorded in 1990. That album had included a contribution by the Oakland Youth Chorus. Unfortunately, the local choir who had been contracted to take part in the concert could not reach the venue because of the snow. It was decided to play without them.
All the music from this concert, except for one piece, was arranged by Carla Bley. Her contribution to all the versions of the Music Liberation Orchestra was as crucial as Haden’s. For the library, over the years, Bley chose songs from the struggles in Spain, Central and South America, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Guinea, songs from the International Brigade, the Sandinistas, the MPLA, the ANC.
Carla Bley's ‘Dream Keeper Suite’ was based on a book of poems by Langston Hughes. The new themes are interwoven with traditional songs and themes from El Salvador, Venezuela and the Spanish civil war. The playing is very different from the album, subtleties are missed, solos are wilder and not as disciplined. One of the joys of Bley’s work with the Liberation Music Orchestra is the way that she achieves a balance between her writing and the freedom of the soloists. That balance is not always achieved here. There are compensations: the long tuba solo from Joe Daly on tuba is a plus.
There is plenty of room for the soloists: Joe Lovano (tenor), Tom Harrell (trumpet) and Amina Claudine Myers (piano). The concert begins with a blistering version of ‘Nkosi Sikhelel iAfrika’ the anthem of the African National Congress. Makanda Ken McIntyre on alto solos as do Javon Jackson and Joe Lovano on tenors and Bill Stewart on drums. ‘Sandino’, written by Haden to be used in a documentary about the Sandinistas, opens with Haden's declamatory bass accompanied byMick Goodrick's Spanish guitar. Tom Harrell produces a powerful flugelhorn solo followed by Ray Anderson on trombone. ‘On Tale of the Tornado’ (Rabo de Nube) arranged by Carla’s daughter Karen Mantler, Mick Goodrick's extended solo cadenza sets up a space for Joe Lovano and Javon Jackson on tenors.
Haden's composition ‘Spiritual’, dedicated to Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X ends the concert.
In 1990 Charlie Haden wrote the following in the album notes for ‘Dream Keeper’: ‘Hopefully, this album conveys the necessity for every human being to work toward appointing people in positions of government leadership who possess insight, intelligence, compassion and a commitment to human rights in order that the dream of racial and sexual equality becomes a reality throughout the world.
Keep the dream alive.’
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Equinox Music – EQCD6001
Alto & Soprano Saxophone – Ken McIntyre; Bass – Charlie Haden; French Horn – Sharon Freeman; Guitar – Mick Goodrick; Percussion – Mark Burton; Piano – Amina Claudine Myers; Tenor Saxophone – Javon Jackson, Joe Lovano; Trombone – Ray Anderson; Trumpet – Earl Gardner, Tim Hagans, Tom Harrell; Tuba – Joe Daley
Vocals – Amina Claudine Myers
Charlie Haden’s death in 2014 was a grievous loss to jazz, not only musically but politically. Charlie who started the Music Liberation Orchestra in 1969 was always outspoken. It is not difficult to guess how Charlie Haden would vote in the forthcoming presidential election. In 1971 he was touring Europe with Ornette Coleman. The date in Lisbon took place while Portugal was under the dictator Salazar. Portugal at that time had colonies in Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique and was fighting nationalist movements in these regions. During the concert Haden dedicated his composition ‘Song for Che’ to the liberation movements. His reward- was a standing ovation from the audience; an arrest by the police, with a day spent in custody before the American embassy secured his release.
This concert was broadcast and recorded by WGBH Boston at the Somerville Theatre, Somerville, Mass. U.S.A. on 14th March 1993. It must have been a very wintry occasion. The intention was to play music from the ‘Dream Keeper’ album that had been recorded in 1990. That album had included a contribution by the Oakland Youth Chorus. Unfortunately, the local choir who had been contracted to take part in the concert could not reach the venue because of the snow. It was decided to play without them.
All the music from this concert, except for one piece, was arranged by Carla Bley. Her contribution to all the versions of the Music Liberation Orchestra was as crucial as Haden’s. For the library, over the years, Bley chose songs from the struggles in Spain, Central and South America, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Guinea, songs from the International Brigade, the Sandinistas, the MPLA, the ANC.
Carla Bley's ‘Dream Keeper Suite’ was based on a book of poems by Langston Hughes. The new themes are interwoven with traditional songs and themes from El Salvador, Venezuela and the Spanish civil war. The playing is very different from the album, subtleties are missed, solos are wilder and not as disciplined. One of the joys of Bley’s work with the Liberation Music Orchestra is the way that she achieves a balance between her writing and the freedom of the soloists. That balance is not always achieved here. There are compensations: the long tuba solo from Joe Daly on tuba is a plus.
There is plenty of room for the soloists: Joe Lovano (tenor), Tom Harrell (trumpet) and Amina Claudine Myers (piano). The concert begins with a blistering version of ‘Nkosi Sikhelel iAfrika’ the anthem of the African National Congress. Makanda Ken McIntyre on alto solos as do Javon Jackson and Joe Lovano on tenors and Bill Stewart on drums. ‘Sandino’, written by Haden to be used in a documentary about the Sandinistas, opens with Haden's declamatory bass accompanied byMick Goodrick's Spanish guitar. Tom Harrell produces a powerful flugelhorn solo followed by Ray Anderson on trombone. ‘On Tale of the Tornado’ (Rabo de Nube) arranged by Carla’s daughter Karen Mantler, Mick Goodrick's extended solo cadenza sets up a space for Joe Lovano and Javon Jackson on tenors.
Haden's composition ‘Spiritual’, dedicated to Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X ends the concert.
In 1990 Charlie Haden wrote the following in the album notes for ‘Dream Keeper’: ‘Hopefully, this album conveys the necessity for every human being to work toward appointing people in positions of government leadership who possess insight, intelligence, compassion and a commitment to human rights in order that the dream of racial and sexual equality becomes a reality throughout the world.
Keep the dream alive.’
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
