Charlie Haden - The Montreal Tapes

 

In July 1989, the organizers of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) extended a generous invitation to Charlie Haden to present a series of eight concerts featuring some of Charlie’s frequent collaborators.

How many other bass players would be considered for a week-long series of performances?

Some concerts were broadcasted live by Radio Canada, and made available to the Verve label for release on CD, and are today's freeload.

July 7 was reserved for the trio with Paul Bley and Paul Motian.  

The performances are all one could wish for.  Charlie is closely miked and generates a huge, detailed sound from his bass.  Drums and piano are carefully placed in the sound stage so that every nuance is captured.  FIJM uses major concert halls as venues, in addition to the many street bandstands in the city.  The concert's acoustics are responsible in part for the excellence of the performance.

Most numbers leave a lot of space for Charlie's intimate bass solos.  Paul Bley and Paul Motian have worked extensively with Charlie, so there are no awkward moments.  Everyone seems comfortable and uses the opportunity to stretch out and, of course, keep the spotlight shining on Charlie Haden, the honoree.

This show was recorded on the opening night of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.  While all the other evenings featured stellar musicians and wonderful collaborations, this one stands out because it features Charlie in a trio of players not usually associated with him. The drummer is Al Foster, who had just left Miles Davis’ band, and the late tenor giant Joe Henderson.  For the Verve release of this show, Charlie subtitled the set, "Tribute to Joe Henderson",

There are four extended tunes on the set, the shortest of which is the opener, a gorgeous, wide open rendering of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," on which Joe Henderson begins to display some of the same modal soloing traits he used on his Blue Note recordings 'Mode for Joe', and 'Inner Urge'.

As if this weren't enough, the trio ranges from the lyrically and harmonically sublime reinvention of Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are," to a wildly adventurous free jazz ride on Charlie's tune "In the Moment".  This begins like a classic bop tune and then forgoes all changes and time signatures in favor of pure improvisation.  It also includes a 20-minute take on Charlie Parker's "Passport" to close the set.

This set is a testament to the inherent musical communication between three proficient musicians.  It also demonstrates their intensity and concentration, not mere going-through-the-motions.  This is one of the best live trio dates you'll ever hear.

On July 2,1989, Charlie Haden, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell met to produce this remarkable concert.  This night was a kind of tribute to Ornette Coleman, with six of the eight tracks were written by him.  But more than this, this is a tribute to all the history of jazz.  "The Sphinx" for example, looks so much like a Charlie Parker tune. "Art Deco" is a very swinging melody by Don Cherry, it's seductive music that will give you a pleasant "earworm".  Ornette's "Lonely Woman" is played particularly well by this trio. "The Blessing" and "When Will The Blues Leave?" are among Ornette's best known compositions. "Law Years", another tune by Ornette, is one of my favorites.

This is not nostalgia from the Ornette Coleman's quartet of the early sixties, this is a second reading of a marvelous material, played with love.

I saw all eight of Charlie's shows at the 1998 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, and all were excellent.  I also had the pleasure of being present at the rehearsals for Charlie's set with Paul Bley and Paul Motian, which took place in the loft below mine here in Manhattan.  At the time, I was leasing the loft to Paul Motian.

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