Charlie Haden

Charles Edward “Charlie” Haden, August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014. He was an American jazz double-bass player. He is best known for his long association to Ornette Coleman, pianist Keith Jarrett and his Liberation Music Orchestra. This group he co-led along with Carla Bley. From Wikipedia. Charlie Haden was a founding father of free jazz after he was a member of Ornette Coleman’s first bands. Haden is not a jazz musician who has settled in any one of the many styles. Although he has played some dissonant music in the 1960s and 1970s as a sideman with Coleman, Keith Jarrett and as the leader of the Liberation Music Orchestra — he is most attracted to harmony. His trio with Jan Garbarek, guitarist Egberto Gismonti and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, whose ECM album Silence embodied a deeply lyrical, harmonically simple aesthetic. Or his duo with Pat Metheny which is as much American folk music as jazz. Haden’s art has a deep soul. He never plays more than one note, even if it is the right one. Haden is not a flashy musician like Scott LaFaro, who also played with Coleman. However, his ability and intensity of expression are just as strong as any jazz bassist. Haden doesn’t focus on speed and agility but rather explores the timbral possibilities of his instrument with a steady hand and sensitive ears. Haden grew up in a musical family. His family was an independent country.

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