CHARLIE HADEN AND THE LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA

Charlie Haden's music is beyond category. Pull a recording at random from Haden's catalogue that spans his 40 year career as a bandleader and you might get avant-garde jazz, noir jazz, world music, or country music - the genre of choice on his latest release Ramblin' Boy (Decca, 2008). Like it or not, a Charlie Haden recording is reflection of the man himself, be it personal, political, or both. When Haden returns to the Blue Note for his weeklong run starting on Election Day, November 4 (alongside Carla Bley and his 12-member Liberation Music Orchestra), his political side is certain to emerge. The LMO was formed in 1969, taking much of its inspiration from the music of the Spanish Civil War on their self-titled debut, composed in protest of the war in Vietnam. Haden's liberal views have been widely publicized, and many of his albums have been composed in opposition to whoever was in the White House at the time. In fact, New Jersey based journalist Elzy Kolb recent mused that "the only advantage of living in such 'interesting' political times is that they sometime result in a new LMO CD." Regardless of which way the 2008 election goes, Haden, Bley, and the LMO's music will be full of fire and passion. Below, the orchestra performs Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings arranged by Bley for horns.