I opened the top drawer of the oak dresser on my immediate left. It was filled with cassette tapes. Laying on top was one titled “Charlie Haden Quartet West / Jerusalem 1995”. I put it in the canvas bag.
Ruth died on 11 September 2021. Probate took over a year to complete. The dusty garage was filled, floor to rafters, with my father’s effects. There was only a narrow path left for walking.
The shelves were stuffed with tapes and CDs. Live recordings, rough studio mixes, finished pre-release album versions. I took the Jerusalem cassette home. Put it in my cassette deck. Plugged my cassette deck into my computer.
The notes state it’s a recording from the I.B.A. - Israel Broadcasting Authority, the official public broadcaster until they were replaced by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) in 2017. I’m guessing the performance was taped off air and mailed to my father shortly after.
Charlie was fifty-eight when this concert occurred. It was his first visit to Israel. I present set one here. I’ll post the second set next week.
Charlie Haden Quartet West
Israel Festival
Jerusalem, Israel
May or June 1995
First Set
1. Passport (Charlie Parker)
2. Hello My Lovely (Charlie Haden
3. Child’s Play (Charlie Haden)
4. First Song (Charlie Haden)
Charlie Haden - bass
Alan Broadbent - piano
Ernie Watts - sax
Larance Marable - drums
Recorded by the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Additional editing by Josh Haden 2023.
In this substack podcast I listen to albums from the record collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. I’m writing a book of Memoires about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. That address is joshhaden.substack.com.
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