Josh Haden's Mémoire Podcast

Josh Haden plays albums from his father jazz bassist Charlie Haden's record collection.
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Music History
  • Updated Weekly

Josh Haden plays albums from his father jazz bassist Charlie Haden's record collection. joshhaden.substack.com

  1. 3d ago

    Ornette Coleman Plays For The White House

    Opening song: “A Love Like This” (Ned Washington, Victor Young), from Charlie Haden Quartet West’s Sophisticated Ladies (2010, Universal France). Today’s Great Reading in History©: Plato, from The Republic (375 B.C.; Critical Theory Since Plato, Revised Edition, ed. Hazard Adams, 1992. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc). It is Sunday, August 2nd, 2026. Despite making threats and promises, President Trump has not bombed Iran for the past seven days. The average U.S. gas price has been stable at $4.10 per gallon. In other news, The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Fox television host Jeanine Pirro, dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism charges against 67 year old David Hearn, admitting to a judge that President Trump’s accusations against the former Olympian were lies. I normally use this forum to post interesting audio discoveries from my father, jazz bassist Charlie Haden’s, archives. I’ve been sorting through what has become box 78. It’s a large translucent plastic storage container with a white lid. Most of the material is sheet music, both commercial, mostly classical music, and original music written my Charlie and others. There are also a lot of knickknacks including an LG Verizon flip phone, a 2008 “Cellboost” phone battery charger still in original packaging, a full container of OraLabs Ice Drops, an all access backstage pass for Neil Young + Promise of the Real Rebel Content Tour 2015, an address book, empty wallets, a pair of sunglasses, business cards, and Charlie’s expired U.S. passport from 1983. One of the music sheets led me to a performance I was never aware of before now. On June 18, 1978, Ornette Coleman and his son Denardo performed the song “Earth Souls” on stage at President Jimmy Carter’s White House Jazz Festival, which took place on the South Lawn of the White House, with the president and first lady in attendance. Can the podcast listener imagine anything like that happening under President Trump? Let’s imagine the President Trump Jazz Festival. Who would play at it? Kid Rock, Vanilla Ice, and a guy who sits on a toilet posting to YouTube. Jimmy Carter invited Ornette Coleman, Max Roach, John Lewis, and McCoy Tyner, and they all accepted. Ornette Coleman and Denardo Coleman Washington, D.C. White House Jazz Festival 18 June 1978 Ornette Coleman: Saxophone Denardo Coleman: Drums Track listing: * Introduction by President Jimmy Carter * Earth Souls * Meta Recorded for Jazz Alive, hosted by Billy Taylor Broadcast on WAMU-FM, Washington D.C. The entire program can be found here (YouTube). In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out select Charlie Haden Estate items from my eBay store. All words & images © 2026 by Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jul 27

    Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, Marciac, France, 5 August 2004, Disc 2

    Opening song: '“Focus On Sanity”, from Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz To Come (1959, Atlantic). Today’s Great Reading in History©: Richard Hofstadter, from Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1963; 2020 Library of America edition). It is Sunday, July 26th, 2026. After bombing Iran for 13 straight days, U.S. gas pump prices rose almost 4%. The average price of fuel is $4.11 per gallon as of today, up from the $4.10 average on Friday. It has been two days since U.S. President Trump has bombed Iran. The Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra’s performance in Marciac, France, on August 5, 2004 included material they had recently recorded for the album Not In Our Name. The album was a response to the policies of then president George W. Bush, especially the Iraq War. It was recorded for Radio France and was discovered in two parts, on two separate CD-R discs, in the archive of Charlie Haden. I present part two. Thanks for listening. Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra Marciac, France Jazz In Marciac Festival 5 August 2004 Disc Two of Two Charlie Haden: Bass Carla Bley: Piano, Arrangements Tony Malaby: Saxophone Chris Cheek: Saxophone Miguel Zenón: Saxophone Seneca Black: Trumpet Michael Rodriguez: Trumpet Ahnee Sharon Freeman: French Horn Curtis Fowlkes: Trombone Joe Daley: Tuba Steve Cardenas: Guitar Matt Wilson: Drums Track listing: * Adagio For Strings (Samuel Barber) * We Shall Overcome (Traditional) Recorded by Radio France In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out select Charlie Haden Estate items from my eBay store. All words & images © 2026 by Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 20

    Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, Marciac, France, 5 August 2004

    Opening song: Song For Che, from Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (1970). It is Sunday, July 19, 2026. U.S. President Trump has bombed Iran for the eighth straight day in a war that was started for no logical reason. The Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra was formed in 1969 as an artistic rebuttal to then U.S. President Nixon’s war against Vietnam, a war, much like the current one, started for dubious reasons and ending in death, destruction, and no answers or solutions, other than monetary gain for the top 1% of the world. If my father had lived to see Donald Trump’s presidency he would have no doubt felt compelled to release another Orchestra album. We only have his past works to speak for him, 1970’s Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, 1983’s The Ballad Of The Fallen, put out during the Ronald Reagan presidency, 1990’s Dream Keeper, during the George H.W. Bush regime, and 2005’s Not in Our Name, during the administration of George W. Bush. 2016’s Time/Life included elements he had been developing with his long time arranger Carla Bley, and was posthumously released as a foreshadow to Trump’s presidency. The Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra’s performance in Marciac, France, on August 5, 2004 included material they had recently recorded for Not In Our Name. It was recorded for Radio France and was discovered in two parts, on two separate CD-R discs, in the archive of Charlie Haden. Thanks for listening. Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra Marciac, France Jazz In Marciac Festival 5 August 2004 Disc One of Two Charlie Haden: Bass Carla Bley: Piano, Arrangements Tony Malaby: Saxophone Chris Cheek: Saxophone Miguel Zenón: Saxophone Seneca Black: Trumpet Michael Rodriguez: Trumpet Ahnee Sharon Freeman: French Horn Curtis Fowlkes: Trombone Joe Daley: Tuba Steve Cardenas: Guitar Matt Wilson: Drums Track listing: * Not In Our Name (Charlie Haden) * This Is Not America (Pat Metheny) * Blue Anthem (Carla Bley) * America The Beautiful (Public Domain) * Amazing Grace (Public Domain) * Goin’ Home (Antonín Leopold Dvořák) * Throughout (Bill Frisell) Recorded by Radio France In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out select Charlie Haden Estate items from my eBay store. All words & images © 2026 by Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jan 15

    "I Was Attacked By A Rottweiler Dog!"

    Bassist Charlie Haden and manager & wife Ruth Cameron spoke to Finnish Radio Broadcasting’s jazz host Markku Salo by telephone, from their Malibu home. The air date was 23 April 2001. “I’m not working right now because my wife and I were attacked by a Rottweiler dog,” says Charlie, a fresh cup of coffee beside him. Mr. Salo explains to his listeners, in Finnish, that Charlie and Ruth were walking their dog seven weeks earlier when a Rottweiler attacked them. Charlie had to go to the hospital. He’s recovering with a dog bite to the hand. Charlie said to me, at the time: He and Ruth were walking Jackson at twilight. They saw a man and woman with a big dog walking towards them. The bigger dog pounced on Jackson. Charlie and Ruth tried to pry it away. The canine turned on Charlie. I can’t remember if it was Ruth or Charlie who jumped up onto the roof of a nearby parked car to escape. Everyone, including Jackson, survived. Charlie and Ruth initiated legal action against the dog owners. They settled out of court. The dog owners moved out of the neighborhood. Charlie and Ruth used the money to purchase a house in Westlake Village, over the hill from Malibu. Charlie and Mr. Salo switch to different topics. Charlie begins to speak. Mr. Salo overdubs his Finnish language version: the recently released Charlie Haden Quartet West CD The Art Of The Song, made with vocalists Bill Henderson and Shirley Horn: Charlie prefers the band, vocalist, and string orchestra to be in the same room recording simultaneously, despite the extra expense. The musicians inspire and play off each other, in ways separation and overdubs won’t allow. The result is a product more authentic to the compositions themselves. Charlie talks about Ken Burns’ recently aired multi-part TV documentary Jazz. He talks about Cole Porter and Ravel. He talks about the origins of Quartet West. How he uses the project to bring back songs he loved listening to as a youngster, and to “record” with musicians he was never able to play with, like saxophonist Charlie Parker and vocalist Jo Stafford. He wants to help save classic tunes from being lost to time. He recounts telling Jo Stafford’s husband, legendary bandleader Paul Weston, “What wonderful recordings you made back then. Something magical must have happened in the studio because the interpretations are so deep and beautiful.” To which Mr. Weston replied, “Charlie, to tell you the truth, I don’t even remember. It was just another ordinary workday.” Charlie talks about his 1970 Liberation Music Orchestra album. Songs of the Spanish Civil War. Improvising to the music of the Spanish Republican Army. He says that the recent election of President George W. Bush would neccessitate a new Liberation Music Orchestra album. He talks about his upcoming CD of Cuban music, Nocturne, which would win a Grammy. Charlie says he isn’t upset with any current trends in jazz. “I’m not upset about anything as long as I can play.” I am rather concerned that more people should be brought into contact with deeper art and its deeper values ​​so that our society would become a more sensitive, humble and profound people, where life and beauty are valued. I think our society seems to be going in the exact opposite direction. Music is becoming more and more commercialized all the time. I think today, in my parents’ singing group, it was real back then. Because every time I play quarter notes with a message, we play a million hits from the 1940s. From Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey to The Pipers and Friends to Sinatra to Jo Stafford to King Cole Trio to Fletcher Henderson, and each of those in common and in their distribution sold millions of records and played to thousands of listeners in their concerts. I’m worried that we’re losing art and its values.* They talk about Charlie Haden Quartet West’s upcoming Finnish concert. Charlie loves Finland. The people are warm. The Finns like beauty and jazz and have always treated him well. The rest of the cassette contains a dub of Cuban guitarist, singer, and revolutionary songwriter Carlos Puebla’s 1976 album Soy Del Pueblo, recorded in Finland. Charlie Haden and Ruth Cameron interviewed by Markku Salo. Finnish Radio Broadcasting Co. First air date: 23 April 2001 Recorded to cassette. Broadcast contains excerpts of songs from: Ruth Cameron: “Detour Ahead” (Herb Ellis, John Frigo, Lou Carter) Roadhouse (2000, Verve) Charlie Haden Quartet West (with Bill Henderson, vocalist): “Why Did I Choose You” (Herbert Martin, Michael Leonard) The Art Of The Song (1999, Verve) Charlie Haden Quartet West (with Jo Stafford vocal sample): “Alone Together” (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) Always Say Goodbye (1994, Verve) Charlie Haden: “Nightfall” (Charlie Haden) Nocturne (2001, Verve) Cassette from the collection of Charlie Haden You are reading Josh Haden’s Mémoire on Substack, a memoir about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. Please consider subscribing. You’ll be supporting my writing and preservation of the Charlie Haden Estate. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out select Charlie Haden Estate items from my eBay store. All words & images © 2026 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  5. 06/11/2025

    Duke Ellington, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940 (Complete) Disc Two

    The complete recording of Duke Ellington Orchestra’s 7 November 1940 concert at the Crystal Ballroom in Fargo, North Dakota continues on disc two. The music was recorded to acetate by two forward-thinking jazz fans, Jack Towers and Dick Buriss. Exactly 30 days later Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered WW2. Duke helped sell war bonds and recorded Black, Brown, and Beige. Almost 24 years later Charles Mingus released Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, produced by Bob Thiele. Gulf Of Tonkin escalated U.S. involement in Vietnam. Charlie put out Liberation Music Orchestra, also produced by Bob Thiele, six years after that. U.S. continued to bomb Vietnam and Cambodia. Disc one is here. Solid, Jackson. In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. Josh Haden’s Memoire is about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out my eBay store. Duke Ellington at Fargo, Live 1940 (complete) Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota 7 November 1940 Recorded by Jack Towers and Dick Burns Wallace Jones & Rex Stewart, trumpets Ray Nance, trumpet, violin, vocal Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, trombones Barney Bigard, clarinet, tenor sax Johnny Hodges, alto sax Otto Hardwick, alto sax, clarinet Ben Webster, tenor sax Harry Carney, baritone sax, clarinet Duke Ellington, piano Fred Guy, guitar, whistle Jimmy Blanton, bass Sonny Greer, drums Ivie Anderson & Herb Jeffries, vocal Disc two track listing: * Slap Happy (E. Ellington) * Sepia Panorama (E. Ellington) * Boy Meets Horn (E. Ellington, I. Mills, R Stewart) * Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (H. Creamer, T. Layton) * Oh, Babe! Maybe Someday (E. Ellington) * The Five O’Clock Whistle (K. Gannon, W. Irwin, J. Myrow) * Fanfare (E. Ellington) * Rockin’ In Rhythm (E. Ellington, T. Mills, H. Carney) * Sophisticated Lady (E. Ellington, T. Mills, H. Parish) * Cotton Tail (incomplete) (E. Ellington) * Whispering Grass (D. & F. Fisher) * Conga Brava (E. Ellington, J. Tizol) * I Never Felt This Way Before (A Dubin, E. Ellington) * (chaser) * Across The Track Blues (E. Ellington) * Honeysuckle Rose (A. Razaf, T. Waller) * Wham! (E. Durham, J.T. Miller) * Star Dust (H. Carmichael, M. Parish) * Rose Of The Rio Grande (E. Leslie, H. Warren) * St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy) * Warm Valley (E. Ellington) * God Bless America (I. Berlin) * Herb Jeffries attempts The Call Of The Canyon (W.J. Hill); chaser; All This And Heaven Too (E.D. Lange, J.V. Heusen) All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 06/04/2025

    Duke Ellington, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940 (Complete) Disc One

    IN MY MIND, the link to Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (1970) is Charles Mingus’ 1964 LP Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus. But it starts with this recording, distributed as a bootleg until an “official” release in 1978. The Duke Ellington Orchestra live in concert at the Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940. Specifically their versions of “Mood Indigo”, almost midway through this set, and the 30 second rendition of “God Bless America”, appearing at the end of disc 2, which I’ll post next week. Charlie owned at least two versions of the “commercial” release: the U.K. “Volume 1” vinyl, and the 1995 Japanese 2X CD, which I post here. Solid, Jackson. In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. Josh Haden’s Memoire is about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out Charlie’s record collection. Check out my eBay store. Duke Ellington at Fargo, Live 1940 (complete) Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota 7 November 1940 Recorded by Jack Towers and Dick Burns Wallace Jones & Rex Stewart, trumpets Ray Nance, trumpet, violin, vocal Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, trombones Barney Bigard, clarinet, tenor sax Johnny Hodges, alto sax Otto Hardwick, alto sax, clarinet Ben Webster, tenor sax Harry Carney, baritone sax, clarinet Duke Ellington, piano Fred Guy, guitar, whistle Jimmy Blanton, bass Sonny Greer, drums Ivie Anderson & Herb Jeffries, vocal Track listing: * It’s Glory (partial) (E. Ellington) * The Mooche (E. Ellington, I. Mills) * The Sheik Of Araby (H. Smith, T. Snyder) * Sepia Panorama (E. Ellington) * Ko-Ko (E. Ellington) * There Shall Be No Night (G. Shelley, A. Silver) * P***y Willow (E. Ellington) * Chatterbox (E. Ellington) * Mood Indigo (B. Bigard, E. Ellington, I Mills) * Harlem Airshaft (E. Ellington) * Ferryboat Serenade (M. Panzeri, E. Lazzaro, H. Arlen) * Warm Valley (and chaser) (E. Ellington) * Stompy Jones (E. Ellington) * Chole (including interruption) (C. Daniels, G. Kahn) * Bojangles (E. Ellington) * On The Air (E. Ellington) * Rumpus In Richmond (E. Ellington) * (chaser) * The Sidewalks Of New York (including interruption) (public domain) * The Flaming Sword (E. Ellington) * Never No Lament (E. Ellington) * Caravan (including interruption) (E. Ellington, I. Mills, J. Tizol) * Clarinet Lament (B. Bigard, E. Ellington) All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 04/17/2025

    Charlie Haden Quartet West "The Folks Who Live On The Hill" (w/out vocals)

    Charlie Haden Quartet West’s The Art Of The Song was released in 1999 on Verve France. It was the Quartet’s sixth album and the first to feature contemporary vocalists. Pianist Alan Broadbent’s orchestral arrangement for their version of the song “Lonely Town” won a Grammy award. “The Folks Who Live On The Hill” was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1937 Irene Dunn/Randolph Scott western musical film High, Wide and Handsome. I haven’t seen it, but it’s apparently about a group of poor farmers who battle corporate railroad barons for access to oil discovered on the farmers’ land. The Art Of The Song version was sung by Shirley Horn. I found this instrumental mix on a CD-R in my father’s collection. It’s dated 23 February 1999. Solid, Jackson. In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. Josh Haden’s Memoire is about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out my eBay store. Charlie Haden Quartet West “The Folks Who Live On The Hill” (Instrumental mix, 1999) from The Art Of The Song (1999, Verve France) Charlie Haden - bass Ernie Watts - saxophone Alan Broadbent - piano Larance Marable - drums Orchestra conducted by Murray Adler All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 04/16/2025

    Commercial Music

    Charlie was occasionally asked to contribute original cues to TV shows. He reluctantly played electric bass on some commercials in the early 1970s. I never knew that he performed on a Reebok TV ad soundtrack as late as 1993. He met the director by chance on a plane to New York. He recorded the tracks in the director’s hotel room at the Paramount. Composer Owen O’Toole released the songs on an obscure undated CD entitled Belief System: Possible Music For Television, which I found in my father’s collection. In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. Josh Haden’s Memoire is about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com. Check out my eBay store. Tracks from Belief System: Possible Music For Television “Belief System” (Reebok) Charlie Haden - bass Owen O’Toole - samples and loops Recorded in Jeff Plankster’s (Paramount) hotel room and Baby Monster Studio NYC March 1993 * Belt Drive * Walkathon * Trump Wipers * Bed Wedding * Flashes * Xerox Wedding * Sumatra * Xerxes * Deep Sun All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved. Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe

See All (55)

About

Josh Haden plays albums from his father jazz bassist Charlie Haden's record collection. joshhaden.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Haden plays albums from his father jazz bassist Charlie Haden's record collection.
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Josh Haden
  • Show Website
    Josh Haden's Mémoire Podcast