Charlie Haden - The Private Collection (2007/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Charlie Haden has long established himself as one of the world’s greatest bass players. Originally released as two individual Naim titles in 1994, "Charlie Haden's Private Collection Vol 1 & 2" were limited to 2,200 copies each and sold through Naim's UK Hi-Fi retailers. Re-released in celebration of Haden's 70th birthday, the release also marks Naim repertoire spanning 20 years of Haden's career, with material that has never been available for the mass market.

The stupendous rediscovery of this diamond material appears re-mastered courtesy of life-long friend Ken Christianson, who produced the original True Stereo recordings of both concerts. Long regarded as one of the worlds' greatest living bass players Haden first made a name for himself in the late fifties with the forward-thinking, and at the time revolutionary, quartet alongside Ornette Coleman and then in the sixties as part of the aforementioned Keith Jarrett's trio and American Quartet. In the seventies Haden formed the Liberation Music Orchestra, a spirited politically minded free-jazz band that concentrated much of their ideas on the Spanish Civil War. Throughout the eighties and nineties Haden has worked with all manner of musicians both in the jazz world and beyond achieving massive critical acclaim both for his collaboration with guitarist Pat Metheney (‘Beyond The Missouri Sky') and with his own band he formed in the late eighties, Quartet West.

Bassist Charlie Haden gained his initial fame with the Ornette Coleman Quartet of 1959-1961, developing an innovative style that allowed him to walk the bass and create a forward movement and momentum while not stating a chord structure. Haden worked on other rewarding groups through the years, including his Liberation Music Orchestra, the 1970s Keith Jarrett Quintet, and in Old and New Dreams. His longest running project has been Quartet West, which he formed in 1986. A somewhat nostalgic unit, Quartet West matches Haden with tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent and usually drummer Larance Marable on melodic jazz that often could have been played in 1950s (or at least 1960s) Los Angeles. The two-CD set The Private Collection consists of two rare concerts from early in the group's existence. The first CD, recorded at a club date on Charlie Haden's 50th birthday, has the group (with its original drummer Billy Higgins) playing songs by Pat Metheny, Tony Scott, Miles Davis, Bach (a beautiful rendition of "Etudes"), and Charlie Parker in 1987. The second CD, recorded in 1988 in St. Louis, was a homecoming of sorts for Haden, who had many friends in the audience. The quartet (with Paul Motian on drums) performs numbers by Metheny (a second version of "Farmer's Trust"), Charlie Parker, and Ornette Coleman (a nearly 23-minute rendition of "Lonely Woman") plus "Body and Soul" and two Haden originals. Ernie Watts' tenor flights are consistently full of fire, passion, and intensity. His tone is soulful and distinctive, and Watts' style has his own "sheets of sound." While Haden and the drummers are capable of pulling the music in any direction, pianist Alan Broadbent keeps the proceedings grounded, chordal, and boppish. Although one would not have necessarily predicted this direction for Charlie Haden's music in 1970, it has worked out quite well. This well-recorded two-fer features Haden's Quartet West at its best.

Tracklist:

Volume 1#01 - Hermitage
Volume 1#02 - Passport
Volume 1#03 - Misery
Volume 1#04 - Nardis
Volume 1#05 - Segment
Volume 1#06 - Farmer's Trust
Volume 1#07 - Etudes

Volume 2#01 - Bay City
Volume 2#02 - Farmer's Trust
Volume 2#03 - Lonely Woman
Volume 2#04 - Silence
Volume 2#05 - Body And Soul
Volume 2#06 - Visa

Volume 1: Charlie Haden's 50th Birthday Concert, was recorded in True Stereo at At My Place, Santa Monica, CA, on August 6th 1987.
Volume 2: Charlie Haden with Quartet West, was recorded live at Webster University, St. Louis on April 4th 1988.

Musicians:
Charlie Haden - double bass
Alan Broadbent - piano
Ernie Watts - saxophones
Billy Higgins – drums (volume 1)
Paul Motian - drums (volume 2)


Thanks to the Original customer!