Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playing in jazz, evolving a style that sometimes complemented the soloist, and other times moved independently, liberating bassists from a strictly accompanying role.

In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking Ornette Coleman Quartet. In 1969, he formed his first band, the Liberation Music Orchestra, featuring arrangements by the pianist Carla Bley. In the late 1960s, he became a member of the pianist Keith Jarrett's trio, quartet and quintet. In the 1980s, he formed his own band, Quartet West. Haden also often recorded and performed in a duo setting, with musicians including the guitarist Pat Metheny and the pianists Hank Jones and Kenny Barron.

The German musicologist Joachim-Ernst Berendt wrote that Haden's "ability to create serendipitous harmonies by improvising melodic responses to Ornette Coleman's free jazz solos (rather than sticking to predetermined harmonies) was both radical and mesmerizing. His virtuosity lies (...) in an incredible ability to make the double bass 'sound out'. Haden cultivated the instrument's gravity as no one else in jazz. He is a master of simplicity which is one of the most difficult things to achieve."

Biography

Early life

Haden was born in Shenandoah, Iowa, on August 6, 1937. His family was exceptionally musical and performed on KMA radio as the Haden Family, playing country music and American folk songs. Haden made his professional debut as a singer on the Haden Family's radio show when he was just two years old. He continued singing with his family until he was fifteen, when he contracted bulbar polio. Haden soon set his sights on moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz musician; to save money for the trip, he took a job as house bassist for the American Broadcasting Company TV show Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri.

Early career

Haden often said that he moved to Los Angeles in 1957 in search of pianist Hampton Hawes. He turned down a full scholarship at Oberlin College, which did not have an established jazz program at the time, to attend Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles. His first recordings were made that year with Paul Bley, with whom he worked until 1959. He also played with Art Pepper for four weeks in 1957, and with Hawes from 1958 to 1959.

Liberation Music Orchestra

In 1970 Haden received a Guggenheim Fellowship on the recommendation of Leonard Bernstein. Over the years, Haden received several NEA grants for composition. Haden founded his first band, the Liberation Music Orchestra ("LMO") in 1969, working with arranger Carla Bley. Their music was very experimental, exploring both the realms of free jazz and political music. The first album focused specifically on music from the Spanish Civil War, which had markedly inspired Haden. Inspired by the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he superimposed songs such as "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Happy Days are Here Again", contrasted with "We Shall Overcome".

The original Liberation Music Orchestra lineup consisted of Haden, Bley, Gato Barbieri, Redman, Motian, Don Cherry, Andrew Cyrille, Mike Mantler, Roswell Rudd, Bob Northern, Howard Johnson, Perry Robinson, and Sam Brown.

Over the years, the LMO had a shifting membership comprising a "who's who" of jazz instrumentalists, and consisted of twelve members from multicultural backgrounds. A mono recording of Haden's dedication and the audience's applause is included at the beginning of "For A Free Portugal" on the album Closeness. It was released in 1976, two years after the Carnation Revolution.

Haden decided to form the LMO at the height of the Vietnam War, out of his frustration that so much of the government's energy was spent on the war in lieu of internal problems. Haden's goal was to use the LMO to amplify unheard voices of oppressed peoples and express solidarity with progressive political movements from around the world. The LMO's 1982 album The Ballad of the Fallen on ECM commented again on the Spanish Civil War as well as United States involvement in Latin America. The LMO toured extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990, the orchestra returned with Dream Keeper, inspired by a poem by Langston Hughes, which also drew on American gospel music and South African music to comment on racism in the United States and apartheid in South Africa. The album featured choral contributions from the Oakland Youth Chorus. In 2005, Haden released the fourth Liberation Music Orchestra album, Not in Our Name, a protest against the Iraq War.

1982–2000

thumb|Haden in 1990

In 1982, Haden established the Jazz Studies Program at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Santa Clarita. His program emphasized smaller group performance and the spiritual connection to the creative process. He encouraged students to discover their individual sounds, melodies, and harmonies. Haden was honored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society as "Jazz Educator of the Year" for his educational work in this program.

In 1984, Haden met the singer and actress Ruth Cameron. They married in New York City, and throughout their marriage, Ruth managed Haden's career as well as co-producing many albums and projects with him.

In 1986, Haden formed his band Quartet West at Ruth's suggestion. The original quartet consisted of Ernie Watts on sax, Alan Broadbent on piano, and long-time collaborator Billy Higgins on drums. Higgins was later replaced by Larance Marable. When Marable became too ill to perform, drummer Rodney Green was added to the band. In addition to original compositions by Haden and Broadbent, their repertoire also included 1940s pop ballads which they played in a noir-infused, bop-oriented style. In late 1996, he collaborated with guitarist Pat Metheny on the album Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories), exploring the music that influenced them in their childhood experiences in, respectively southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri, with what Haden called "contemporary impressionistic Americana". Haden was awarded his first Grammy award for the album, for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance.

In 1997, classical composer Gavin Bryars wrote By the Vaar, an extended adagio for Haden. Instrumentation included strings, bass clarinet and percussion. The piece was recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra, on the album Farewell to Philosophy. It is a synthesis of jazz and classical chamber music, featuring resonant pizzicato notes and gut strings in imitation of Haden's bass sound. Rambling Boy was intended to connect music from his early childhood in the Haden Family band to the new generation of the Haden family as well. The album includes songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Hank Williams, in addition to traditional songs and original compositions.

In 2009, Swiss film director Reto Caduff released a film about Haden's life, titled Rambling Boy. It screened at the Telluride Film Festival and at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2009. In the summer of 2009, Haden performed again with Coleman at the Meltdown Festival in Southbank, London. He also performed and produced duet recordings with pianist Kenny Barron, with whom he recorded the album Night and the City. In February 2010, Haden and pianist Hank Jones recorded a companion to Steal Away: Spirituals, Hymns and Folk Songs called Come Sunday. Jones died three months after the recording of the album.

Awards

In 2012, Haden was a recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Award.

In 2013, Haden received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2014, Haden was bestowed the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. A posthumous ceremony in his honor took place in New York City in 2015, where his widow Ruth was presented with the medal.

Legacy

Spirituality and teaching method

While he did not identify himself with a specific religious orientation, Haden was interested in spirituality, especially in association with music. He felt it was his duty, and the duty of the artist, to bring beauty to the world, to make this world a better place. He encouraged his students to find their own unique musical voice and bring it to their instrument. He also encouraged his students to be in the present moment: "there's no yesterday or tomorrow, there's only right now", he explained.

Haden owned one three-quarters-sized bass, and one seven-eighths-sized bass. The larger bass was one of a small number of basses made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in the nineteenth century. He greatly valued this bass, playing it only at recording sessions and jobs in close proximity to his home so as not to risk damaging it in transit. He attributed the bass's special and valuable nature to the varnish used by Vuillaume. Petra plays the violin, Rachel plays the piano and bass guitar, and Tanya, a visual artist, plays the cello. They have a band called The Haden Triplets and recorded their self-titled album in 2012. Comedian, actor, and musician Jack Black is Charlie's son-in-law via Tanya.

Death

Haden died in Los Angeles on July 11, 2014, at the age of 76. He had been suffering from post-polio syndrome and complications from liver disease. A memorial concert was held at New York City's Town Hall on January 13, 2015, produced and organized by his wife Ruth.

Discography

  • 1976: Closeness (1976)
  • 1976: The Golden Number (1977)
  • 1976: As Long as There's Music (1978)
  • 1978: Gitane (1979)
  • 1979: Mágico (1980)
  • 1979: Folk Songs (1981)
  • 1987: Etudes (1989)
  • 1987: Silence (1987)
  • 1990: Dialogues (1990)
  • 1991: Haunted Heart (1992)
  • 1990: First Song (1992)
  • 1994: Steal Away (1995)
  • 1996: Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories) (1997)
  • 1997: None But the Lonely Heart (1997)
  • 2000: Nocturne (2001)
  • 2002: American Dreams (2002)
  • 2003: Land of the Sun (2004)
  • 2005: Tokyo Adagio (2015)
  • 2006: Heartplay (2006)
  • 2008: Charlie Haden Family & Friends: Rambling Boy (2008)
  • 2010: Come Sunday (2012)

References

  • Heffley. "Haden, Charlie". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press
  • Charlie Haden interview on Democracy Now!, September 1, 2006
  • Official documentary website
  • DTM Interview
  • Charlie Haden Discography, All About Jazz
  • NPR interview