10 December 2007
Jazz Rag
Julian Maynard-Smith

The first of these live discs is Charlie Haden's 50th birthday concert, recorded at At My Place (a Santa Monica jazz club) on 6 August 1987; the second was a recorded on 4 April 1988 at Webster University. These recordings weren't originally released until 1994, and even then they were limited editions, distributed through Naim Hi-Fi retailers. Their release to a wider market, in a double digipack, is to celebrate Haden's 70th birthday. The recording quality of Disc 1 is rather raw compared to Disc 2, but since the engineer was the same for both, this may be due to the less favourable acoustics of what sounds like a smaller venue.

Disc 1 features the line-up that had recorded Charlie Haden Quartet West the previous December: Ernie Watts on sax, Alan Broadbent on piano and Billy Higgins on drums, although Paul Motian takes over drums on Disc 2.Tracks from the Quartet West album appear in these live sets; Body & Soul, Pat Metheny's Hermitage, Charlie Parker's Passport and Charlie Haden's Bay City. Other tracks range from Tony Scott (Misery) to JS Back (Etudes)

Most performances are lengthy, with Passport over 15 minutes, and Ornette Coleman Lonely Woman weighing in at nearly 23 minutes - although Watts's urgent tenor is more late Trane than early Ornette. Not that it's all fire and brimstone; Body & Soul and the two versions of Farmer's Trust in particular are more intimate, quiet performances. Haden's extended solos will be a treat for bassists, and are a reminder of what a melodic soloist he is.