Search - Charlie Haden :: Land of the Sun

A disc of great warmth and beauty

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 09/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Longtime collaborators Haden and Rubalcaba have produced a recording of many delicious pleasures.



It's worth a short accounting of how this music came about (as rendered in the disc's liner notes). Charlie Haden, a man with deep affinities to Latin music, played a concert in 2003 in Austin, Texas. After the concert he was approached by Patricia Mendes, daughter of Mexican composer Jose Sabre Marroquin, whose song, "Nocturnal," Haden had recorded earlier. She wished to thank the artist for his beautiful rendition of the song, and to give him a folder of her father's compositions.



After carefully looking over these compositions, Haden showed them to Gonzalo Rubalcaba to see if the latter might be interested in working with him on an entire disc of Marroquin compositions. When Rubalcaba showed enthusiasm for the project, the two began to plan a recording session, which ended up with eight songs by Marroquin and one each by Mexican composers Agustin Lara and Armando Manzanero.



The result is this disc. In many ways, it is a recording of profound, although deceptive, simplicity. The musical materials comprise such commonplace elements as to lull the unwary listener into an almost tropically soporific stupor. A closer attending reveals subtleties of composition, arrangement, and playing that vault the proceedings out of seemingly merely generic pretty Latin music into the precincts of glorious felicity. The leader's bass playing has a lot to do with it. Charlie Haden, for years, has developed and cultivated a unique style on acoustic bass, combining a careful placement of notes, an individual, even idiosyncratic sense of timing, and a depth of sonority and gravitas seldom approached--let alone achieved--by any other player in the history of acoustic jazz bass playing. Often concentrating on the mid to lower registers of his instrument (in contradistinction to many of his contemporaries, who like to work the upper registers), he is in some ways a kind of throwback to earlier stylists, but his own harmonic and rhythmic sophistication makes him an innovator of the order. Rubalcaba's playing and arrangements also add mightily to the mix. What's he's done is penetrate to the melancholy, wistful heart of this music without sinking into sentimentality.



Add Joe Lovano on tenor sax, the up-and-coming Miguel Zenon on alto sax, Lionel Loueke on guitar (who greatly livened up Nicholas Payton's latest disc), and other players of note, and you've got a crew of master musicians making music that is not only beautiful but consequential.



Wonderfully evocative."

Nice, But Missing Something

George C. Love | Prestonsburg, Kentucky USA | 01/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I came to Charlie Haden's music via Nocturne a couple of years ago. With much of the cast back for this recording I find it enjoyable, but a little disappointing. Nocturne seemed able to maintain a slight edge that allowed the music to be soft and deeply felt and didn't fall over the edge into background music. Land of the Sun doesn't quite pull that off. It really is quite beautiful and I love Gonzalo Rubalcaba's piano work, but the edge just isn't there this time out. If you don't have Nocturne let me guide you in that direction."

The title should be heaven

L. Hobson | Palmdale California | 09/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Charlie Haden's "Land Of The Sun" will take you on a journey into your inner soul, just sit back and close your eyes and listen to the fruit and juice of the music as it flows though you. It will put you into a state of relaxation like you haven't felt before. Each and every track of sound will leave your body in a very relaxed state. A must have sound for every one. Larry Hobson-Author- The Day Of The Rose"