The Ballad Of The Fallen

Similar in style to his 1968 disc with the Liberation Movement orchestra, and employing many of the same musicians, this disk is just as good, but a bit more accessible. The music is a wonderful mix of modern jazz, and latin themes, conceived of as a tribute to victims of the dictatorships in south america. It is at times mournful, at times uplifting, but never dull. The music flows freely and seamlessly, with regular changes of style, tempo, instrumentation and tone. It is hauntingly beautiful. In my top ten of all time.

I bought this for a friend. It's one of my all time favourite albums. It's inspiring, beautiful and is the epitome of the expression 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever'. A wonderful album which has sustained me over 30odd years. One of the few I own both on CD and vinyl.

Inspiring music! I suppose it is very much like Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra from some fourteen years earlier in that both were based on revolutionary songs and music, mainly from the Spanish civil war and the various battles against American oppression in Latin America. Although the subject matter of the individual tunes differs somewhat both records should be regarded as suites with a common subject matter and approach. For what it is worth I prefer the earlier music largely because the solos are stronger. Here, there is good solo work from Don Cherry, Mick Goodrick on acoustic guitar, Dewey Redman and Steve Slagle, with Sharon Freeman and Jack Jeffers contributing greatly to the ensemble sound, but the most impressive soloist is Haden himself on double bass. Most prominently featured is Carla Bley but both she and the lung busting trombone of Gary Valente have always been a bit of a blind spot for me.The arrangements, by, I think, Carla Bley, are effective with a fairly free sound with horns moving in and out of the ensemble. The sound is Ellingtonian but more directly is similar to the larger ensemble works of Charles Mingus.But, somehow it doesn't quite grab me. The earlier disc breathed revolutionary fervour and was genuinely inspiring. This music is inspiring but also gives a slight impression of going through the motions. I hope I'm wrong.One of the other reviews refers to the eighties, for those who remember them, as being a time of nuclear threats and economic hardshipand America funding assassination squads in support of fascists. No change now, then!

This is a good one

This CD has long been a favourite of mine and ranks alongside the best of Louis' Hot 5 and 7's for me. It is truly that good !Led by bass legend Charlie Haden, the music originates from a combination of socialist's music from the Spanish Civil War and Latin America. The orchestrations are by Carla Bley who had never written anything so moving before or as good since.Despite featuring a line-up of some hard and fast "Avant Garde-ists", the music is very melodic and full of drama and more conservative listeners should not be perturbed. Try the beautiful title track with it's dramatic modulation before the french horn solo or the bitter-sweet "Introduction to people" for example. Haden's most celebrated composition "Silence" gets the Big Band treatment here, this being a tune that has always reminded me of Chopin's C minor Prelude. The most poigniant track must be "Too late" that opens as a duet between the bassist and Carla Bley at the piano. The final track "La Santa Espina" sounds like something from a spaghetti western and features Don Cherry spitting out cracked notes on his pocket trumpet over a cracking rythmn section.Not only is this CD the best produced by the esteemed record label ECM but is also one of the greatest Jazz albums of the last 25 years. Haden has always been good value for money as a bass player since his days with Ornette and "Ballad of the Fallen " remains his apogee. Five stars do not do this record justice. Come the Revolution, hopefully all Jazz records will be as good as this !!

Central american rhythms meet North America's top jazz players in a recording inspired by the carnage in El Salvador. Deeply moving tunes will leave you trembling. Gary Valente's trombone playing stands out amongst a galaxy of talent. Recommended.