Sunday, July 20, 2014

TWO MORE FOR CHARLIE

First, some of you might've recently watched this monumental solo performance of "Lonely Woman" by Charlie Haden... if not, you gotta:



Did any of you catch the massive quote he drops starting at 2:27?

If not, see if you can place the song. The answer is here but no cheating! Hint: It's not a jazz quote.

Second, there's such a great duo by Keith Jarrett and Haden at around the 48:10 mark of this excellent Haden documentary Rambling Boy:


Charlie Haden - Rambling Boy from PiXiU FILMS on Vimeo.

I've always admired Keith Jarrett but I don't think I've ever really understood, or enjoyed, his music as much as I do in this very off-the-cuff performance on what sounds like a standard that I don't know the name of. The reason is the accompaniment; Charlie lays down the harmonic structure of the song so heavy and plain, Jarrett is able to absolutely tap-dance his way through the whole tune, and he does put on a show. Then just watch Charlie, who you thought was the straight man, power his way through a superb solo, never looking at his fingers once. It's so good that it ends with a genuine hug and one of Haden's all-time best utterances of "yeah, man."

No comments:

Blog Archive