Liberation Music Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Liberation Music Orchestra is a jazz
album
by Charlie Haden
, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music
). It was Haden's first album as leader.
The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War
. He included three of those songs on the album (the trilogy "El Quinto Regimiento", "Los Cuatro Generales", and "Viva la Quince Brigada", which are old Spanish
folk songs given new words during the war.
Other tracks on the album include Ornette Coleman
's "War Orphans", which Haden had played with Coleman in 1967, three pieces by Carla Bley
, who also contributed much of the arranging, two of Haden's own compositions, one dedicated to Che Guevara
and one inspired by the 1968 National Convention
of the U.S. Democratic Party
:
In "Circus '68 '69" the musicians are thus divided into two bands in recreation of the events on the convention floor.
The Liberation Music Orchestra
's next album, The Ballad of the Fallen
, didn't appear until 1983.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
, released in 1969 (see 1969 in music
1969 in music
-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
). It was Haden's first album as leader.
The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. He included three of those songs on the album (the trilogy "El Quinto Regimiento", "Los Cuatro Generales", and "Viva la Quince Brigada", which are old Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
folk songs given new words during the war.
Other tracks on the album include Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
's "War Orphans", which Haden had played with Coleman in 1967, three pieces by Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
, who also contributed much of the arranging, two of Haden's own compositions, one dedicated to Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
and one inspired by the 1968 National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
of the U.S. Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
:
- "After the minority plank on Vietnam was defeated in a vote taken on the convention floor, the California and New York delegations spontaneously began to sing 'We Shall OvercomeWe Shall Overcome"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
' [the last track on the album] in protest. Unable to gain control of the floor, the rostrum instructed the convention orchestra to drown out the singing. 'You're a Grand Old Flag' and 'Happy Days Are Here AgainHappy Days Are Here Again"Happy Days Are Here Again" is a song copyrighted in 1929 by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen and published by EMI Robbins Catalog, Inc./Advanced Music Corp...
' could then be heard trying to stifle 'We Shall Overcome'. To me this told the story, in music, of what was happening in our country politically." (Charlie Haden, original liner notes)
In "Circus '68 '69" the musicians are thus divided into two bands in recreation of the events on the convention floor.
The Liberation Music Orchestra
Liberation Music Orchestra
Liberation Music Orchestra is a jazz album by Charlie Haden, released in 1969 . It was Haden's first album as leader.The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War...
's next album, The Ballad of the Fallen
The Ballad of the Fallen
The Ballad of the Fallen is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 1982 and released in 1983. The album was voted "Jazz album of the year" in Down Beat magazine's 1984 critic's poll...
, didn't appear until 1983.
- See also: Liberation Music OrchestraLiberation Music OrchestraLiberation Music Orchestra is a jazz album by Charlie Haden, released in 1969 . It was Haden's first album as leader.The inspiration for the album came when Haden heard songs from the Spanish Civil War...
Track listing
- "The Introduction" (Bley) – 1:15
- "Song of the United Front" (BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, EislerHanns EislerHanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
) – 1:52 - "El Quinto Regimiento" ("The Fifth Regiment") (trad., arr. Bley)
"Los Cuatro Generales" ("The Four Generals") (trad., arr. Bley)
"Viva la Quince Brigada" ("Long Live the Fifteenth Brigade") (melody trad., words Bart Van Derschelling) – 20:58 - "The Ending to the First Side" (Bley) – 2:07
- "Song for Ché" (Haden) – 9:29
- "War Orphans" (ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
) – 6:42 - "The Interlude (Drinking Music)" (Bley) – 1:24
- "Circus '68 '69" (Haden) – 6:10
- "We Shall OvercomeWe Shall Overcome"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
" (HortonZilphia HortonZilphia Horton was American musician, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome", "Keep Your Eyes on...
, HamiltonFrank Hamilton (musician)Frank Hamilton is an American folk musician and co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois. As a performer, he has recorded for Folkways Records and, as a member of the folk group The Weavers, for Vanguard Records, as well as for Philips and several other labels and...
, CarawanGuy CarawanGuy Carawan is an American folk musician and musicologist. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee....
, SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
) 1:19
-
- (Recorded at Judson Hall, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 27 April–29 April 1969.)
- (Recorded at Judson Hall, New York City
Personnel
- Perry RobinsonPerry RobinsonPerry Morris Robinson is an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He is the son of the noted composer Earl Robinson. -Biography:...
— clarinet - Gato BarbieriGato BarbieriLeandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
— tenor saxophone, clarinet - Dewey RedmanDewey RedmanDewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
— alto saxophone, tenor saxophone - Don CherryDon CherryDon Cherry may refer to:* Don Cherry hockey player, coach, and commentator* Don Cherry , trumpeter* Don Cherry...
— cornet, flute, Indian wood & bamboo flutes (3,5) - Michael MantlerMichael MantlerMichael Mantler is a composer and trumpeter in new jazz and contemporary music.-Career: United States:Mantler was born in Vienna, Austria...
— trumpet - Roswell RuddRoswell RuddRoswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
— trombone - Bob NorthernBob NorthernRobert "Bob" Northern , known professionally as Brother Ah, is an American jazz French hornist.Born in North Carolina and raised in The Bronx, Northern studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Vienna State Academy in the 1950s...
— French horn, hand wood blocks, crow call, bells, military whistle - Howard JohnsonHoward Johnson (jazz musician)Howard Lewis Johnson in Montgomery, Alabama, is an American jazz musician known mainly for his work on tuba and baritone saxophone, although he also plays the bass clarinet, trumpet and other reed instruments....
— tuba - Sam Brown — guitar, Tanganyikan guitar, thumb piano (1,3-7)
- Carla BleyCarla BleyCarla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
— piano, tambourine - Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
— bass - Paul MotianPaul MotianStephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
— drums, percussion - Andrew CyrilleAndrew CyrilleAndrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St...
— drums, percussion (8)
External links
- Impulse! AS-9183, IMP 11882
- McDonald, Steven, [ Allmusic.com review]. Accessed 2008 September 24.