eclectic listener

I just found out about the passing of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden. Don’t expect a superbly-written article. I just felt like saying a few things about him.

Charlie Haden was – no, IS – one of my greatest inspirations. Here was a musician who didn’t have astounding technique, who didn’t play a million notes per second, or employ wild changes in time signatures to show how clever he was. He just played from the heart.

His work with Ornette Coleman was a revelation, groundbreaking. Among the many, MANY albums he played on, there’s one with living legend Pat Metheny called “Beyond The Missouri Sky” which is a timeless gem.

Charlie could play only two notes, but man! Those two notes can make a grown man cry. I sure have.

I managed to see him in concert once. Unfortunately, it was at the Heineken Jazzfest in Puerto Rico, and the bill that night was mostly hot latin jazz. And there was Charlie Haden, playing his understated, subtle music at an outdoor festival to a crowd who’d had maybe too many beers. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have if it had been in a concert hall, but it was still magical.

Thank you, Charlie, for the great music. For the inspiration to try to say more with less. For the desire to dig deeper. For enabling me to appreciate subtlety, grace, and poise.

May your legacy live on for as long as there are humans on this Earth, and maybe even beyond that.

This entry was posted on July 11, 2014 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Bass players. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.