Bassist Charlie Haden back to country roots
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 07, 2009 00:00
NEW YORK- The 71-year-old bassist Charlie Haden helped change the shape of jazz a half century ago as a member of Ornette Coleman's quartet. Now he finds himself nominated for best country instrumental performance for 'Is This America? (Katrina 2005)'
After a career on modern jazz's cutting edge, bassist Charlie Haden admits being "scared" before recording his first country music album at Ricky Skaggs' Nashville studio. But with a little help from family and friends, Haden found he could indeed go home again to his Ozarks roots, and even garner a Grammy nomination.
The 71-year-old bassist helped change the shape of jazz a half century ago as a member of Ornette Coleman's quartet. Now he finds himself nominated for best country instrumental performance Ğ with guitarist Pat Metheny, dobro player Jerry Douglas and pianist Bruce Hornsby Ğ for "Is This America? (Katrina 2005)," a slowly flowing ballad written by Metheny to evoke the sense of sadness and disbelief felt over the government's response to the hurricane.
It's one of the few pieces of contemporary Americana on Haden's new album "Rambling Boy" that finds him returning to songs made famous by the Carter Family, Hank Williams and other traditional country musicians.
Haden last performed these songs with his parents and siblings as the youngest member of the Haden Family band popular on the Midwest country circuit in the 1930s and 1940s.
Now he's doing them with his wife Ruth Cameron, son Josh, triplet daughters - Rachel, Petra and Tanya Ğ and son-in-law, actor Jack Black as well as such musical luminaries as Elvis Costello, Vince Gill and Rosanne Cash.
"I've gotten three Grammys and about 15 nominations for jazz recordings ... but this record was very special because it was going back to my country roots and playing these old songs that I used to sing when I was a little kid," said Haden, in a telephone interview from his home in LA.
The CD includes Haden's first recorded performance - an excerpt from a 1939 Haden Family radio show on which 22-month-old Cowboy Charlie yodels on a gospel tune.
Haden feels a strong personal connection to songs like "Wildwood Flower" and "Rambling Boy," which he remembers Mother Maybelle Carter playing with her daughters in the Haden family living room in Springfield, Missouri.
"Haden speaks in a soft, raspy voice - a lingering effect from the childhood polio that weakened his vocal cords and put an end to his singing career at age 15. He turned his attention to the bass, and got drawn to jazz after hearing Charlie Parker at a concert in Omaha, eventually heading out to Los Angeles in 1956 to study music and play jazz.
But even as a member of Coleman's 1958-60 quartet that charted a freer course for jazz improvisation, Haden drew on the harmonies and melodies he learned playing country music. His bass solo on "Ramblin"' from Coleman's 1960 album "Change of the Century" includes fragments from folk songs such as the fiddle tune "Old Joe Clark."
The seeds for "Rambling Boy" were planted 20 years ago when three generations of Hadens gathered in rural Missouri to celebrate his mother's 80th birthday. Cameron, his wife and manager, suggested that everyone sing "You Are My Sunshine" and was struck by the harmonizing of the bassist's triplet daughters.
"The girls just fell into it and I think they all realized they blended so well because when you're related your voice, the timbre, seems to blend," said Cameron, who sings an Irish ballad, "Down by the Salley Gardens." on the new album.
"It was more like a family get together than a studio session," said Tyminski, who sings "Ocean of Diamonds" on the album. The album spotlights Haden's four children - all of whom come out of the indie rock scene. Son Josh, who leads the band Spain, touchingly sings his own ballad "Spiritual," which Johnny Cash once recorded. The Haden Triplets with their tight, high-tone harmonies create a distinctive blend on the Carter Family's "Single Girl, Married Girl" and other tracks.
The 71-year-old bassist helped change the shape of jazz a half century ago as a member of Ornette Coleman's quartet. Now he finds himself nominated for best country instrumental performance Ğ with guitarist Pat Metheny, dobro player Jerry Douglas and pianist Bruce Hornsby Ğ for "Is This America? (Katrina 2005)," a slowly flowing ballad written by Metheny to evoke the sense of sadness and disbelief felt over the government's response to the hurricane.
It's one of the few pieces of contemporary Americana on Haden's new album "Rambling Boy" that finds him returning to songs made famous by the Carter Family, Hank Williams and other traditional country musicians.
Haden last performed these songs with his parents and siblings as the youngest member of the Haden Family band popular on the Midwest country circuit in the 1930s and 1940s.
Now he's doing them with his wife Ruth Cameron, son Josh, triplet daughters - Rachel, Petra and Tanya Ğ and son-in-law, actor Jack Black as well as such musical luminaries as Elvis Costello, Vince Gill and Rosanne Cash.
"I've gotten three Grammys and about 15 nominations for jazz recordings ... but this record was very special because it was going back to my country roots and playing these old songs that I used to sing when I was a little kid," said Haden, in a telephone interview from his home in LA.
The CD includes Haden's first recorded performance - an excerpt from a 1939 Haden Family radio show on which 22-month-old Cowboy Charlie yodels on a gospel tune.
Haden feels a strong personal connection to songs like "Wildwood Flower" and "Rambling Boy," which he remembers Mother Maybelle Carter playing with her daughters in the Haden family living room in Springfield, Missouri.
"Haden speaks in a soft, raspy voice - a lingering effect from the childhood polio that weakened his vocal cords and put an end to his singing career at age 15. He turned his attention to the bass, and got drawn to jazz after hearing Charlie Parker at a concert in Omaha, eventually heading out to Los Angeles in 1956 to study music and play jazz.
But even as a member of Coleman's 1958-60 quartet that charted a freer course for jazz improvisation, Haden drew on the harmonies and melodies he learned playing country music. His bass solo on "Ramblin"' from Coleman's 1960 album "Change of the Century" includes fragments from folk songs such as the fiddle tune "Old Joe Clark."
The seeds for "Rambling Boy" were planted 20 years ago when three generations of Hadens gathered in rural Missouri to celebrate his mother's 80th birthday. Cameron, his wife and manager, suggested that everyone sing "You Are My Sunshine" and was struck by the harmonizing of the bassist's triplet daughters.
"The girls just fell into it and I think they all realized they blended so well because when you're related your voice, the timbre, seems to blend," said Cameron, who sings an Irish ballad, "Down by the Salley Gardens." on the new album.
"It was more like a family get together than a studio session," said Tyminski, who sings "Ocean of Diamonds" on the album. The album spotlights Haden's four children - all of whom come out of the indie rock scene. Son Josh, who leads the band Spain, touchingly sings his own ballad "Spiritual," which Johnny Cash once recorded. The Haden Triplets with their tight, high-tone harmonies create a distinctive blend on the Carter Family's "Single Girl, Married Girl" and other tracks.