Celebrating Charlie Haden

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TUESDAY night in Los Angeles will see both a celebratory and a sad occasion: The jazz titan Charlie Haden – the lyrical bass player, free-jazz pioneer, crucial collaborator to Ornette Coleman and others, father to a four Los Angeles indie rockers, founder of CalArts jazz program – will lead his Liberation Music Orchestra at REDCAT. It has special music since this group – which Haden began in 1969 – was dedicated to music of the Spanish Civil War, Latin American independence and South Africa’s fight for justice. The REDCAT show’s arrangements were made by the jazz composer Carla Bley, who played a major role in the original group.

The bad news is that this may be the last-ever public appearance by Haden, whohas been very sick. He will pay with the group if he is physically able, but he may simply appear for a last hurrah from the Southland’s jazz community.

I’ve been listening to Haden – first, I think, on Coleman’s Change of the Century, then on dates he led, like his Quartet West LPs and his Montreal dates – since I got into jazz two decades ago. He’s collaborated with more of my favorite artists – Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Paul Motian, Lee Konitz, Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, many others – than just about anyone I can think of. He’s taught a number of young musicians I know and admire, and the Haden triplets and Josh Haden (leader of the ethereal band Spain) are among the cream of LA’s rock subculture.

Haden, who grew up in a country-music family in the Ozark Mountains, and whose basslines still offer songlike lines and a country twang, contracted polio as a teenager, and he is now suffering, in his 70s, from post-polio syndrome.

At this point, it’s hard for me to contemplate the Southland jazzworld without Charlie Haden. So I won’t. I urge everyone who loves Haden’s music, and the numerous traditions that intersect in his work and life, to come out to REDCAT tomorrow and blow the roof off the place.

Indie Rockers Finding Second Wind

IT seems, sometimes, that every awful band from the past is back together again for a lame-ass shed tour. And it's also started to seem, at least since the heavenly Go-Betweens reunion of about a decade ago, that some of the groups reuniting were not only good, they were better -- or close to it -- the second time around.


How can both of these things be true at the same time? It took me 2,000 words to figure it out.

For a story that just went up on Salon, I look at the awfulness alongside four bands that never had time to go bad -- Spain, the Feelies, Mission of Burma and the dBs -- and are now back in force.

And I try to make sense of the whole never-say-die phenomenon. Why did bands used to break up when the time was right, but then began staying together for years, or getting back together, over and over again?

Lovers of Spain, the LA "slowcore" band of '90s fame, should be aware of their August 28 show at the Bootleg Theater.

Wondering: Who are your favorite -- and least favorite -- reunited bands?

Spain mach 2, Photo Steven Dewall

LA Band Spain, and a Celebrity Fan

THE other night I was lucky enough to catch a short, hypnotic set by Spain, the Los Angeles "slowcore" band that's now back together and starting to appear in low-key shows around town. (The last time I saw them they played at tiny but wonderful Origami Vinyl in Echo Park.)

In any case, the show itself was both completely gripping and without any surprising jolts: Mellow songs with a brooding shimmer, the ghost of country music evident in some of the chord changes, incisive guitar lines, and about evenly split between darkly romantic songs from the band's '90s heyday and new songs including "I'm Still Free," recently released as a single. (We were especially impressed with "I Lied" the band's last song, "Untitled #1," from its first album, though it made us wonder how much better the song would be if it had a real name.)

The Misread City is a longtime fan of this group -- here is some of what I've said before about this band, headed by Josh Haden -- so we were delighted to see that despite the poor showing of this barely publicized gig, one of the great arbiters of Southland music was rocking to the show in dark overcoat: Actor Jack Black.

Black, of course, is married to one of Haden's musical sisters -- they are all descended from great jazz bassist Charlie Haden -- so maybe this was family obligation. But somehow I don't think so.

Your humble blogger has far too good manners to approach a Hollywood celebrity who has strayed into a public place, but his appearance made us recall his peerless role in High Fidelity, one of the great rock music films ever made.

In this scene, Black's character Barry gives a clueless customer a brisk musical lesson, and continues on the record-shop owner played by John Cusack. As you can tell from this clip, Black's taste is quite exacting: A major vote of confidence indeed for the band Spain.

One note: Silver Lake's The Satellite, where the show was held seems to be quite similar to Spaceland, the club it replaced. This is no complaint: The place falls into the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it category. Long may it thrive, under whatever name.

The Sound of Southern California: The Radar Brothers

AMONG Los Angeles' most intriguing -- and quietest -- bands are The Radar Brothers, an Eastside group dedicated to a blend of mellowness and tension. They were once associated with fellow "slowcore" or "psychedelic depression" bands Acetone and Spain. The Bros.' new album, The Illustrated Garden, comes out on Merge next week. (I especially like the song "For the Birds.") They're currently in Austin, at South by Southwest; on Friday (March 26) they play Spaceland in LA. I'm a longtime fan, but was surprised at how strong their live show, at Largo, was last year, opening for Lambchop: They seemed powered by a new energy. We spoke to head Bro, Jim Putnam. So it’s an all-new Radar Bros.? What happened, and how has it changed the band and its sound?  we finished an album called "auditorium" in 2007(?) and the other members of the band decided to call it quits. i considered starting a whole new project, band whatever, but i thought the radar brothers should keep going as a new incarnation, atleast to support that record. things went very well with new members be hussey and stevie treichel, so we cranked out a new record, and here it is! You’re often described as being a slow band. Is this fair, and it is part of your vision for the group? no. it might be fair, but it's not part of any vision. we've been described as slow, same tempo etc., for years. i hear other bands doing the same thing, but not getting as much flak for it. i think if we were from butte montana, none of that would exist... You went to Cal Arts in the ‘80s – wondering if there are any other art forms, whether painting, architecture, the short story, etc, that have a meaning for you as a musician? yes!!! i paint and draw all the time. our new record's artwork was a concept i had where i wanted it to look like a mentally challenged high school student made it. i love oil paint! can't use it, though. my house is full of dogs and cats and a turtle, wouldn't want to expose them to the toxicities... To what extent does Southern California or LA shape what you play, how you hear and see the world? very much. i grew up here, and there's a lot of certain subtleties about this place. it's unpredictable. suddenly there will be a new pho restaurant where the sushi restaurant was, next to the thai place that used to be a taco bell. drive 100 miles in any direction, and you will be in a stunning place. perhaps the beach, or the desert, or the mountains or farmland. or just hang out in your own backyard, and you will be visited by many different types of birds... i always thought this place was normal, until my parents took me on a trip out to the east coast. i thought the east coast was strange. eventually i realized that l.a. was strange... You’re very serious about the production of your records and have a locally famous production studio. What do you try for when you’re producing your own band, or others like, say, Let’s Go Sailing? i just try to make it sound good, and interesting. expensive studios can sound bland. my studio sounds interesting, i think. For people who haven’t seen you play in a few years, should they expect the upcoming Spaceland show to be different than Radar Bros. shows of yore? it's an all new band(except for me), so it will sound different. i really like the way we sound now. it's pretty full and complex, i think. See you at Spaceland.

The Return of The Blue Moods of Spain

How often you arrive at a club and kick yourself for having missed the opening band? Not bloody often I'll bet. But when I got to Spaceland on Saturday to find I'd arrived too late to see a rare (and barely announced) show by LA indie kings Spain, my heart sunk into the kind of melancholy the group conjures so well in song.

Spain, which is led by Josh Haden (son of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden, bro of Haden triplets) made two of the most ethereal, melodic, and -- here's a word I try not to overuse -- haunting LPs ever in the 1990s. Their second record, She Haunts My Dreams, may be my favorite breakup record (a genre in which I specialize.) Johnny Cash covered Haden "Spiritual" on Unchained, one of his American records.

But after one more LP and a best-of record, the band broke up, sort of, and has been dormant for a while. While I missed their spot opening for the Clientele, I was able to briefly meet Josh and the band's keyboardist, and to buy a two-song single -- "I'm Still Free" and "Hang Your Head Down Low" -- which is damned fine. The first song is especially affecting, and the second a bit too slow for me but packs one of their best-ever understated guitar solos.

I guess what I like most about the band, besides the genius of the songwriting, and the strong playing, the combination of tension and intimacy that led to their being described as a "slowcore" band back in the day, is its use of the Haden family's Missouri hill-country roots. That is, this is indie music with a twang that doesn't sound much like alt-country. (Ghost of a twang?) It's abstracted and oddly folky at the same time. (In this way, it resembles the early Ornette Coleman records Charlie played on, though it sounds nothing like them.)

Here is Josh Haden's blog, which includes Spain news as well as his thoughts on music, politics, and so on.

And here is the new Spain website. Keep your eyes on these if you don't want to make the same mistake I did. And watch The Misread City for more news on this heavenly band.