Charlie Haden, Iconic American Jazz Bassist, Has Died

Photo via Charlie Haden Music

Charlie Haden, bass player and American jazz icon best known for his work with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett as well as his distinguished solo career, has died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his label ECM. He was 76.

Haden was born on August 6, 1937 in Shenandoah, Iowa to a family of country-western musicians who broadcast their own radio program in town. Haden sang with his family until contracting Polio at the age of 15-- a development that ended his singing career and lead him to pursue music in other forms.

By the 1960's, he would be known as a founding father of free jazz, playing as a sideman with saxophonist Ornette Coleman and pianist Keith Jarrett, and as a leader of the Liberation Music Orchestra, who along with pianist-composer Carla Bley put out the iconic protest album, Liberation Music Orchestra, in 1969.

Throughout the 70's and 80's, Haden joined Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Ed Blackwell to form Old and New Dreams, a distinguished quartet best known for their eponymous 1979 release.

In the mid-80's, Haden helped found a university jazz education program at the California Institute of the Arts, working as an activist to further the cause of jazz. In 1986, he inaugurated another group called Quartet West alongside saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent and drummer Larance Marable. The group would become known for their bop-oriented 1940's noir aesthetic and continued to release music off and on (when Haden wasn't occupied with other side collaborations) until 2011, when they appeared on ECM's Live At Birdland.

Haden was a three-time Grammy winner: 1997's “Beyond the Missouri Sky,” his collaboration with guitarist Pat Metheny, was named Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, and two of his sessions with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba-- 2001's Nocturne and 2004's Land of the Sun-- were named Best Latin Jazz Album.

Haden was the subject of Reto Caduff’s 2009 documentary Rambling Boy , a documentary about Haden's life and work. He received the National Endowment for the Arts’ Jazz Masters Award in early 2012.

Charlie Haden is survived by his wife of 30 years, Ruth Cameron, as well as his children Josh Haden, Tanya Haden, Rachel Haden and Petra Haden.

Watch Haden perform "First Song" with Quartet West:

via Molly Beauchemin