On the second set of the Sunday Jazz Show, DJ Achim reached deep into the archives and pulled out a legendary, if under-appreciated, classic jazz album from bassist Charlie Haden, Liberation Music Orchestra (Impulse! Records, 1969). Here's a typically apt description from AMG:
"A fascinating [album] that comfortably straddles the lines of jazz, folk, and world music, working up a storm by way of a jazz protest album that points toward the Spanish Civil War in particular and the Vietnam War in passing. Haden leads the charge and contributes material, but the real star here may in fact be Carla Bley, who arranged numbers, wrote several, and contributed typically brilliant piano work."
Other artists included on Haden's auspicious debut as a leader include Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Andrew Cyrille, Howard Johnson, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Roswell Rudd and more. One of the most successfully ambitious albums in the storied history of the Impulse! Records label, Liberation Music Orchestra is an undisputed classic of the era. You can listen to the cut Achim played here.
