ARRANGEMENTS BY CARLA BLEY

Transcription

1 CHARLIE HADEN LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA (Song for the Whales and Other Beings) ARRANGEMENTS BY CARLA BLEY

2 1. blue in green 8:15 (Miles Davis) Jazz Horn Music Corporation / BMI Soloists: Michael Rodriguez, Charlie Haden, Chris Cheek CHARLIE HADEN LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA (song for the whales and other beings) 2. time/life 14:18 (Carla Bley) Alrac Music / BMI Soloists: Tony Malaby, Matt Wilson, Carla Bley, Steve Cardenas, Steve Swallow, Chris Cheek, Michael Rodriguez, Curtis Fowlkes, Vincent Chancey, Seneca Black, Loren Stillman, Joseph Daley 3. silent spring 11:41 (Carla Bley) Alrac Music / BMI Soloists: Chris Cheek, Michael Rodriguez 4. útviklingssang 7:54 (Carla Bley) Alrac Music / BMI Soloists: Loren Stillman, Curtis Fowlkes 5. song for the whales 11:44 (Charlie Haden) Liberation Music Co. / BMI Soloists: Charlie Haden, Tony Malaby Bass performed by Charlie Haden and Steve Swallow Arranged and conducted by Carla Bley

3 in memory of Charlie Haden Charlie Haden Los Angeles 1958 Chuck Beach

4 By Ruth Cameron Haden Charlie founded the Liberation Music Orchestra in It was his musical reaction to the injustices he saw occurring in the world at that time, most notably the Vietnam War that had just spread to Cambodia. He asked his friend, composer and arranger Carla Bley to arrange music he had chosen, some he composed, some Carla composed, and some songs from the Spanish Civil War that inspired him. He assembled a stellar line-up of improvising musicians including Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Gato Barbieri, Sam Brown, and other greats, and recorded his first album. It garnered many awards and accolades, and the band began to tour. Charlie was not only deeply passionate about beautiful music and harmonies, but also about social justice, thus, with each subsequent decade, Charlie felt the need to reunite the band to produce another recording addressing the issues of the day which concerned him: the US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War (The Ballad of the Fallen), Racism (Dream Keeper), the invasion of Iraq (Not In Our Name). Over the years, he recorded four Liberation Music Orchestra albums in the studio, along with one live album of a performance at the 1989 Montreal Jazz Festival. The inspiration for Charlie to make this new album was his observation of the increasingly disastrous state of our environment, and how unconsciously we humans are treating each other, our planet, as well as all living beings on this earth. Loss of livable habitat for all forms of life, a result of sheer human greed and ignorance, is tearing away at the very essence of our existence. This had been concerning both Charlie and I for many years. In fact, Charlie wrote Song For the Whales in We began to solidify the concept of this new album in 2007, but we were committed to several other projects before we could begin work on the new Orchestra album. Finally, in August, 2011, we were presented with a fortuitous opportunity to have the Orchestra perform at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, Belgium. The festival director, Bertrand Flamang, wanted his festival to focus on the environment which gave Charlie the impetus he needed to ask Carla to arrange two tunes which we would present at the festival, Blue in Green which, to Charlie at least, had an evocative connection to the environment, (besides, he loved the tune!), and Song for the Whales. We then began to prepare in earnest for the future recording. The performance at the festival was overwhelmingly beautiful. Luckily, the two tracks were recorded by Belgium Public Radio for only one local airing. Although we could not know that this would be the only recording Charlie would make of these two tunes. One can ominously hear as he introduces the band, the difficulty he was already experiencing in speaking and swallowing. We re nevertheless so fortunate to have recorded his message to the world about having reverence for life. In 2012, Charlie s health took a sudden downturn, and we were no longer able to focus on the future album. My entire energy was to do everything to find a solution for Charlie s worsening post-polio syndrome that was increasingly debilitating him. We remained hopeful, however, that Charlie would improve thus we continued to have several discussions with Carla about additional tunes. We wanted to record her composition Silent Spring that she had written in 1960 s. Carla reworked it for the Orchestra as it is now more timely than ever. Carla suggested Utviklingssang which she had written in the 1970 s in response to one of Norway s many development scandals when the Norwegian government planned to develop a series of dams in the far north to generate electricity for the big cities; the dams would have a negative impact on the local people, animals and fish. Upon hearing of Charlie s death, Carla gifted me a new composition Time/Life that she had written to honor her long-time friend, and I asked her if she would write an arrangement of it for the Orchestra as it s such an appropriate way to honor Charlie. I also asked her if she would co-produce this final Liberation Music Orchestra album with me. Carla said yes! I then took my case to our long-time friend and supporter, the visionary producer Jean- Philippe Allard. I knew how much Charlie loved

5 the music that the Orchestra had recorded at the festival, and that he had imagined how the recording would sound once all was complete. I knew we had to finish this project for him, and for the world, as the music is too beautiful to let languish in obscurity. Jean-Philippe thought about it for, at least five minutes, discussed it with producer, Farida Bachir, and they agreed to go ahead with the project. Carla outdid herself with the beauty of most of this music, and the musicians, comprised of our team from the album Not In Our Name and who over the years became our family, played with such passion and reverence. Steve Swallow who has known Charlie since the early 1960 s, and whom Charlie admired so much as a bass player and loved as a friend, was the obvious choice to perform bass on this music. Carla was immediately receptive to the idea, as she liked the fact that Steve would be playing electric bass in Charlie s place, a different instrument than Charlie s. I wish to profoundly thank producers, Jean-Philippe Allard and Farida Bachir, and engineer, Jay Newland, who have worked tirelessly on this project. We have had the good fortune of working with Jean-Philippe and Farida on many recordings since the 1990 s. We are also so fortunate to be able to work with Jay Newland one more time. We have made over fifteen albums with him! Thank you Carla Bley and Steve Swallow and the entire Liberation Music Orchestra musicians for your musical brilliance and loving support! I thank Bertrand Flamang of Jazz Middelheim Radio Belgium. I also wish to thank our tour manager, Albert Sun, and assistant, Owen Cameron, for their hard work on the road and at the recording. Although words cannot express the depth of my feelings, I will always be grateful to my husband and best friend, Charlie Haden, for his love, his music, and his inspiration. Cheung Ching Ming Ruth Cameron Haden, 2016

6 By carla bley When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States in 2008, the musicians in the Liberation Music Orchestra thought they were out of a job. Charlie had only felt moved to make albums with the LMO when he was infuriated with the political system. But even with Obama in office he became more and more upset about ongoing crimes against the environment. Finally his wife Ruth pointed out that maybe he should make another LMO album to protest the mistreatment of the earth s plants and animals. Charlie spoke to me about the idea and we began to look for material that would make sense instrumentally. We decided on Song for the Whales with Charlie s evocative intro, and Blue in Green which just squeaked onto the list because of it s title, and because it was such a beautiful piece. The promoter of the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Belgium had asked Charlie to bring the Orchestra to perform at his festival which was focusing on environmental issues, so Charlie asked me to write arrangements of those two pieces for the occasion. Luckily, the Belgian Radio recorded the concert, and Charlie played great. We didn t realize at the time that we would be able to include his only performance of this music on an album we would complete after he was gone. We went on to play in Oslo, where people were still reeling from the massacre of 77 people by a madman. I thought that an arrangement of Útviklingssang would be an appropriately mournful song to play at the concert. The title referred to the construction of dams in the far north of Norway, which would disrupt the lives of reindeer and salmon and the Sami people who lived there. That concert wasn t recorded, but we had another arrangement ready for a new LMO album. Unfortunately, Charlie s health took a downturn. We decided to include Silent Spring, a piece that I had written in the sixties which made reference to a pioneering book on the environment by Rachel Carson, and I was working on an arrangement of it for the LMO, but we hadn t yet thought of any other appropriate songs. Progress on the album slowed while Charlie and Ruth dealt with his increasing infirmity. When I finally got the call from Ruth that Charlie had passed away, all I could think to do was to write music. I sat at the piano and my hands played what I thought would be a final chord. But it was the first chord of Time/Life, the piece that would become my goodbye to him. The piece was for Charlie and the band, but I dedicated it to Ruth who had to be suffering the loss of his living self more than the rest of us. The idea for the title came as I remembered something that George Russell had pointed out to a friend who was visiting him at Belleview Hospital, where George was being treated for bleeding ulcers and feared he might die. What he could see from his bed near the window was the top of the Time-Life Building, an imposing skyscraper on 6 th Avenue, with the disturbing words Time and Life flashing alternately. Who would have thought that this album would only be finished after Charlie ran out of time? Ruth asked Jean-Philippe Allard, of Impulse Records in France, if still wanted to make the album, and he did, so we went into the studio for two days at the beginning of 2015 to complete it. Charlie had wanted Steve Swallow to be the bass player if he could no longer lead the band and play, and that decision was accepted by everyone. The musicians played with a level of love and dedication that I had never experienced. Let us hope that this music will inspire awareness of how beautiful the earth is, and how important it is for us to take better care of it. Carla Bley, 2016

7 This album is dedicated to CHARLIE HADEN, FELICIA WILSON and WANDA DALEY whose beautiful souls were taken from us much too early Cheung Ching Ming Produced by RUTH CAMERON HADEN & CARLA BLEY Arranged & Conducted by CARLA BLEY Piano: CARLA BLEY Bass on Tracks 1 and 5: CHARLIE HADEN Electric Bass on Tracks 2, 3 and 4: STEVE SWALLOW CARLA BLEY STEVE SWALLOW TONY MALABY CHRIS CHEEK Tenor Sax: TONY MALABY Tenor Sax: CHRIS CHEEK Alto Sax: LOREN STILLMAN Trumpet: MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ Trumpet: SENECA BLACK Trombone: CURTIS FOWLKES French Horn: VINCENT CHANCEY Tuba: JOSEPH DALEY Guitar: STEVE CARDENAS Drums: MATT WILSON LOREN STILLMAN MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ SENECA BLACK CURTIS FOWLKES Copyist : KAREN MANTLER VINCENT CHANCEY JOSEPH DALEY STEVE CARDENAS MATT WILSON

8 Tracks 1 and 5 recorded on August 15, 2011 at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, Belgium, for Belgium Public Radio Klara, (VRT s channel for classical music and jazz) «Jazz en Muziek vzw» Festival organizer. Festival Director: BERTRAND FLAMANG Tracks 2, 3 and 4 recorded on January 14 and 15, 2015 at Avatar Studios, NY Recording and Mixing Engineer: JAY NEWLAND Assistant Recording Engineer: AKI NISHIMURA Mastered by MARK WILDER at Battery Studios, NY. Executive Producers: JEAN-PHILIPPE ALLARD and FARIDA BACHIR Liner notes : RUTH CAMERON HADEN and CARLA BLEY Cover Illustration : Blue in Green Music GEORGIA O KEEFFE (C The Art Institute of Chicago) Liner Photography : CHUCK BEACH, CHEUNG CHING MING Back Cover photography : JIMMY KATZ Design : FRANÇOISE BERGMANN Tracks 1 & 5 / P 2011 VRT. Under exclusive license to impulse! A division of Universal Music France Tracks 2-4 / P 2016 impulse! A division of Universal Music France C 2016, impulse! A division of Universal Music France