This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Baby-faced bassist Charlie Haden’s long musical road has led him from the Grand Ole Opry (as a child singer in his family’s bluegrass act) to the forefront of free jazz (with innovator Ornette Coleman) to the halls of music academia.
On his new disc, Haden touches all those bases as he and his Cali trio celebrate some of his personal favourite compositions. Bolstered by a 30-piece string section and the smooth vocals of jazz legends Shirley Horn and Bill Henderson, Haden proffers a string of musical pearls: Gently swinging jazz classics from Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Kern, grandly sweeping classical fare from Ravel and Rachmaninov, and even a compelling vocal line — supposedly his first since childhood — on the 19th-century ballad Wayfaring Stranger. Never mind the art of the song; Haden’s art is the real cause for celebration here.
