Charlie Haden - Time / Life (Song For The Whales And Other Beings) (2016) [Hi-Res]

With a career that spanned more than a half a century, Charlie Haden proved to be not only one of jazzs finest bassists and composers, he was also a staunch champion of justice. Throughout his career, his rebellious yet gentle spirit addressed various socio-political injustices, particularly with his galvanizing Liberation Music Orchestra, which he founded in 1969. The following year, it released its prophetic, eponymously titled debut album on Impulse Records!, which boasted a stellar lineup that included such fellow jazz renegades as Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, and the arranger, composer Carla Bley whom Haden would eventually ask to arrange all of his subsequent Liberation Music Orchestra recordings.

Two years after Charlies passing in July 2014, his musical vision continues to ignite that esteemed ensemble with the release of its latest disc, Time/Life (Song for the Whales and Other Beings). The disc documents the final recording on which Charlie performed with the Liberation Music Orchestra.

The concept for Time/Life originated in 2007 when Charlie felt the environment was being abused to such a dangerous extent that they had to speak out about it. It was long overdue. Four years later in August, the Liberation Music Orchestra performed at the Middelheim Jazz Festival in Antwerp, Belgium; Bertrand Flamang, the festivals director, wanted the thematic focus for that year to be on the environment. So with Carla Bleys ingenious arrangements, the Liberation Music Orchestra delivered a luxuriant rendering of Bill Evans and Miles Davis Blue in Green and an evocative exploration through Song for the Whales, a lamenting composition Haden penned in 1979, and first recorded with the band Old and New Dreams.

„A fascinating reissue that comfortably straddles the lines of jazz, folk, and world music, working up a storm by way of a jazz protest album that points toward the Spanish Civil War in particular and the Vietnam War in passing. Haden leads the charge and contributes material, but the real star here may in fact be Carla Bley, who arranged numbers, wrote several, and contributed typically brilliant piano work. Also of particular note in a particularly talented crew is guitarist Sam Brown, the standout of 'El Quinto Regimiento/Los Cuatro Generales/Viva la Quince Brigada,' a 21-minute marathon. Reissue producer Michael Cuscuna has done his best with the mastering here, but listeners will note a roughness to the sound -- one that is in keeping with the album's tone and attitude.“ (Steven McDonald, AMG)

Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra
Carla Bley, conductor, piano

01. Carla Bley - Blue In Green (Live en Belgique / 2011) (8:17)
02. Carla Bley - Time / Life (14:20)
03. Carla Bley - Silent Spring (11:43)
04. Carla Bley - Útviklingssang (7:56)
05. Carla Bley - Song For The Whales (Live en Belgique / 2011) (11:43)