Charlie Haden/Joe Henderson/Al Foster
The Montreal Tapes Verve
By Anne Farnsworth
One of Charlie Haden's many and varied musical projects is a series of CDs known as the Montreal Tapes. In 1989, the Montreal Jazz Festival presented eight concurrent days of Charlie Haden tribute concerts featuring Haden playing with guest artists. The results were recorded by Radio-Canada and are slowly being release on the Verve label.
The settings were mostly trio performances, except for a duo with Egberto Gismonti and a final night's appearance of Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Pianists Geri Allen, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Paul Bley are examples of the eclectic roster Haden compiled, unique stylists similar only in the high quality of their musicianship. There were also two nights of horn trios, one of them being the opening night of the series with Joe Henderson and Al Foster.
There are only four tracks on the album but they range from twelve to over twenty minutes in length. The recording in spots mars Henderson's robust tone. It may have been something the sound engineers couldn't control for it sometimes sounds as if Henderson has turned completely away from the microphone. Consider it an opening night, and perhaps opening tune, glitch but a few more microphones placed on the stage would have produced better sound and made it easier to mix out the odd cough and rustle from the audience.
The first cut,"Round Midnight", begins with a rubato chorus Henderson plays solo. His tone is haunting, echoing into the large space of the outdoor concert. Haden and Foster enter but the show belongs to Henderson. Foster, a longtime Henderson sideman, follows Henderson's digressions with his own commentary. Haden lays it down, keeping everything grounded as if he had the strings to two dancing balloons in his hands. There is a strange moment toward the end of the song when the audience begins to clap, probably from a visual cue that Henderson's solo was over, but Henderson plays on.
The next song, "All The Things You Are", is probably the least inspired of the four. Being one of the two 'standard' standards on the CD, one imagines that the track order was determined on that basis alone. But Henderson can splash one sparkling idea after another onto any canvas in an indefatigable fashion. Every young tenor player in the world should be transcribing this solo.
The last two cuts, "In The Moment" and "Passport", are what shine on this session, played in the true spirit of a piano-less trio. The tempo of In The Moment burns as they tinker with the harmony and rhythm. Henderson growls and shrieks while Haden steers the feel of the piece into new directions. By the final cut, "Passport", the group seems to be finding its groove just as the concert is winding down.