Milcho Leviev + Charlie Haden: First Meeting (1986, Pan Music) Side Two

First Meeting was recorded by Gary Denton in 1985, at his eponymous studio on Cohasset Street in Van Nuys. The following year Gary opened Stagg Street Studios (on Stagg Street), about five miles away, off Saticoy St. Fate’s Warning, D.R.I., Cryptic Slaughter, and Bitch were some of the first bands to record there.

After mixing was completed, Gary shipped the tape to Japan. First Meeting was produced for the Japanese market. The album was mastered in Tokyo at Tamco Studios by Kimio Oikawa. Oikawa has engineered, produced, or mastered well over a hundred jazz albums, including work for ECM.

Most of what I know about this record can be found in my post for Side One. It was released in Japan on LP and CD in 1986. It has never been reissued. It can’t be found on streaming services.

Milcho and Charlie played L.A. gigs together in the early to mid-1980s. They played at the Comeback Inn. They played at a festival celebrating the Olympic Games in 1984. I have a memory of Milcho conducting the Liberation Music Orchestra at McCabe’s Guitar Shop around this time. It was the same show the minutemen opened.

After First Meeting, the musical relationship stopped. He and my father never recorded together again. Milcho had a long, distinguished career in the studio, touring, and teaching. He never quite broke through commercially. Milcho died in 2019. Producer Gary Denton died in 2016.

First Meeting

Piano: Milcho Leviev; Bass: Charlie Haden

Side One

1. When Will The Blues Leave? (Ornette Coleman)

2. Nardis (Miles Davis)

3. Beaup (Milcho Leviev, Charlie Haden)

4. J.S. (Bach, Milcho Leviev)

Side Two

1. Monk’s Moment (Eddie Harris)

2. Chairman Mao (Charlie Haden)

3. What’ll I Do (Irving Berlin)

4. Silence (Charlie Haden)

Produced and Engineered by Gary Denton at Gary Denton Studios, 1985

Digitally Mastered by Kimio Oikawa at Tamco Studios, Tokyo, 1986.

Art Direction: Tan Ohe

Design: Eiji Sakagawa/Strange Fruits

Cover photo: Tatsuhiko Tanaka

Album images from the collection of the Charlie Haden Estate.

In this Substack podcast I listen to albums from the record collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. I’m writing a book of Memoires about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com.

All words and images © 2024 Josh Haden, the Estate of Charlie Haden, except by respective copyright holders.

First Meeting, front cover

First Meeting, back cover

First Meeting, insert

First Meeting, side one label

First Meeting, side two label