Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra: Time/Life – review

Charlie Haden assembled and led this orchestra on special occasions over the course of 40 years. The last time was in 2011, at a festival in Belgium, where two of these five pieces were recorded. The others, made following his death in 2014, were scored by his favourite arranger, Carla Bley. Haden was a superb bass player and an inspirational leader whose mere presence had a dynamic effect. The album’s subtitle, Song for the Whales and Other Beings, sums up its theme and the orchestra’s unrestrained sound suggests the luxuriance of nature. The first solo of the whole set is taken by Haden himself, his dark, woody tone quite unmistakable. It may have been his last.