CHARLIE HADEN LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA - Time Life (Song Of The Whales And Other Beings)
Impulse Records
Carla Bley (pno, arr, cond) Charlie Haden (bs) on live recordings Steve Swallow (el bs) on studio recordings. Michael Rodriguez (tpt) Seneca Black (tpt) Curtis Foulkes (trom) Vincent Chancey (french h) Joseph Daly (tuba) Loren Stillman (alt) Chris Cheek (tnr) Tony Malaby (tnr) Steve Cardenas (gtr) Matt Wilson (drs)
It is without doubt that Charlie Haden, who died in July 2014, was one of the most significant cornerstones and major musicians in contemporary jazz for over four decades. From the almost immortal Liberation Music Orchestra, through stunning collaborations with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Jim Hall, Carla Bley and Pat Metheny, to his own Quartet West, the bass man proved himself to be one of the most influential instrumentalists and composers in the history of the music. This part posthumous recording is a fine epitaph to one of the true greats.
Born in Shenandoah, Iowa in 1937, Haden was a man who had a lifetime respect for all living creatures, along with a passion for the human existence, nature and the wider universe. Many of his own compositions and those of his compatriots reflect this, including four of the five on this recording.
All the arrangements here are by Carla Bley, with the album itself being split between a concert at The Middleheim Jazz Festival of 2011 in Antwerp, where Haden was present and a studio recording under the direction of Carla Bley with Steve Swallow on electric bass following the memorial service held for him (Haden) at New York's Town Hall on 12th January 2015. The opening track, from the live session is the Miles Davis classic "Blue In Green" which on this occasion takes on a complete new life, not of course that it needed to. Carla Bley's arrangement offers a far more romantic hue to the soundscape with fine bass from the leader, alongside telling contributions from Chris Cheek on tenor and the trumpet of Seneca Black. Miles would certainly approved (or would he ?) as did the appreciative Dutch audience.
The three studio pieces, all composed by the arranger and with Steve Swallow on bass carry the intensity and depth always associated with her work. The title track in homage to the bass man is both intriguing and thoughtful over it's fourteen minutes. Loren Stillman's alto is restrained and impassioned in equal measure with Chris Cheek also doing no harm to his burgeoning reputation. The closing ensemble passages rise in respect to Haden's life before the almost tolling bell sounds emerge as the piece ends. The nineteen sixties composition "Silent Spring," from A Genuine Tong Funeral with Spanish tinged guitar featured is dense and atmospheric but never dull, with haunting rhythms keeping the listener more than interested, before the arrangement turns into a tour de force for trumpet.
"Utviklingssang" is another song from a much earlier Carla Bley album, this time Social Studies, the eighty one release when she was at the height of her popularity and creativity within the jazz world. With a quiet momentum all of it's own, the front line brass are featured in conversation on an arrangement commissioned by Charlie Haden, a short while before his death, when he was planning a return to recording for The Liberation Music Orchestra. The album closes with Haden's own 1979 "Song For The Whales" from the Middleheim concert, reflecting his lifetime devotion to conservation issues of all kinds. The Leader is on top form with a two minute plus opening bowed bass solo striking audible shock into the festival audience, with it's life like tones of these mighty animals. The atmosphere, although tense seems to jump from the hall with the sheer drama of the moment. Chris Cheek contributes swirling tenor in a rousing solo of Coltrane like proportions before the intensity grows even further as Haden's bass returns to close the twelve minute performance before he verbalises his feelings on the issues reflected throughout the album.
A re-formed version of the orchestra appear at The Cadogan Hall on 20th November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. As for the album itself, it is a "must have" for most followers of the most creative side of contemporary jazz.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Impulse Records
Carla Bley (pno, arr, cond) Charlie Haden (bs) on live recordings Steve Swallow (el bs) on studio recordings. Michael Rodriguez (tpt) Seneca Black (tpt) Curtis Foulkes (trom) Vincent Chancey (french h) Joseph Daly (tuba) Loren Stillman (alt) Chris Cheek (tnr) Tony Malaby (tnr) Steve Cardenas (gtr) Matt Wilson (drs)
It is without doubt that Charlie Haden, who died in July 2014, was one of the most significant cornerstones and major musicians in contemporary jazz for over four decades. From the almost immortal Liberation Music Orchestra, through stunning collaborations with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Jim Hall, Carla Bley and Pat Metheny, to his own Quartet West, the bass man proved himself to be one of the most influential instrumentalists and composers in the history of the music. This part posthumous recording is a fine epitaph to one of the true greats.
Born in Shenandoah, Iowa in 1937, Haden was a man who had a lifetime respect for all living creatures, along with a passion for the human existence, nature and the wider universe. Many of his own compositions and those of his compatriots reflect this, including four of the five on this recording.
All the arrangements here are by Carla Bley, with the album itself being split between a concert at The Middleheim Jazz Festival of 2011 in Antwerp, where Haden was present and a studio recording under the direction of Carla Bley with Steve Swallow on electric bass following the memorial service held for him (Haden) at New York's Town Hall on 12th January 2015. The opening track, from the live session is the Miles Davis classic "Blue In Green" which on this occasion takes on a complete new life, not of course that it needed to. Carla Bley's arrangement offers a far more romantic hue to the soundscape with fine bass from the leader, alongside telling contributions from Chris Cheek on tenor and the trumpet of Seneca Black. Miles would certainly approved (or would he ?) as did the appreciative Dutch audience.
The three studio pieces, all composed by the arranger and with Steve Swallow on bass carry the intensity and depth always associated with her work. The title track in homage to the bass man is both intriguing and thoughtful over it's fourteen minutes. Loren Stillman's alto is restrained and impassioned in equal measure with Chris Cheek also doing no harm to his burgeoning reputation. The closing ensemble passages rise in respect to Haden's life before the almost tolling bell sounds emerge as the piece ends. The nineteen sixties composition "Silent Spring," from A Genuine Tong Funeral with Spanish tinged guitar featured is dense and atmospheric but never dull, with haunting rhythms keeping the listener more than interested, before the arrangement turns into a tour de force for trumpet.
"Utviklingssang" is another song from a much earlier Carla Bley album, this time Social Studies, the eighty one release when she was at the height of her popularity and creativity within the jazz world. With a quiet momentum all of it's own, the front line brass are featured in conversation on an arrangement commissioned by Charlie Haden, a short while before his death, when he was planning a return to recording for The Liberation Music Orchestra. The album closes with Haden's own 1979 "Song For The Whales" from the Middleheim concert, reflecting his lifetime devotion to conservation issues of all kinds. The Leader is on top form with a two minute plus opening bowed bass solo striking audible shock into the festival audience, with it's life like tones of these mighty animals. The atmosphere, although tense seems to jump from the hall with the sheer drama of the moment. Chris Cheek contributes swirling tenor in a rousing solo of Coltrane like proportions before the intensity grows even further as Haden's bass returns to close the twelve minute performance before he verbalises his feelings on the issues reflected throughout the album.
A re-formed version of the orchestra appear at The Cadogan Hall on 20th November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. As for the album itself, it is a "must have" for most followers of the most creative side of contemporary jazz.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
