I haven't taken the time to honor Charlie Haden until now.
He past away last month and jazz lost one of his great
bass players. Haden came to the attention of a wider
audience through his work with
Ornette Coleman. Listen to "The Shape of Jazz to Come": that's Haden making history alongside Coleman,
Don Cherry and
Billy Higgins.
I guess Charlie Haden was regarded left-wing in the US. He
was politically engaged and his
Liberation Music Orchestra was proof of
that. Born out of a collaboration with
Carla Bley he often criticized the US
interference in Latin America and the rest of the world in
his music with this particularly band.
I only got the chance to see him once. With the
Liberation Music Orchestra at the North
Sea Jazz '85. Don't remember if Carla Bley was there as
well that night. "We shall overcome" they played. Sure we
will, Charlie.