Jazz Unlimited for Sunday, September 14 will be “Remembering Charlie Haden.” Bassist Charlie Haden was born in Shenandoah, Iowa in 1937 and was raised on a farm. His family members were musicians who played country and folk music and were on the radio with their own show. Haden began singing with the group by the age of two and continued until the age of 15 when he contracted polio, turning to bass when he could no longer sing. He heard classical bass on the radio and became interested in jazz. He turned down a scholarship to Oberlin College because they had no jazz program. Charlie moved to Los Angeles in 1957, going to the Westlake College of Music and making his first recording with the Paul Bley Trio. He then became part of the classic Ornette Coleman Quartet after playing with Ornette while playing with Bley at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles. Haden played with many people in his career, and had particularly long-standing associations with Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, Carla Bley and Pat Metheny. In addition, the show will feature Hank Jones, Bruce Hornsby, Don Cherry, James Clay, Dewey Redman, Michael Brecker, Abbey Lincoln, Clark Terry, Ernie Watts, the Liberation Music Orchestra, Geri Allen, Paul Motian, Old and New Dreams, the Charlie Haden Quartet West, the Keith Jarrett American Quartet and Magico.
During his career, Haden participated in over 300 recording sessions, 56 of them as a leader. He was awarded three Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Haden was a NEA Jazz Masters fellowship in 2012. He died of post-polio syndrome on July 11, 2014.
The Slide Show contains images of some of the musicians heard on tonight's show.
Here is the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra playing his composition "Sandino" on David Sandborn's "Night Music" TV Show.
