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Charlie Haden is Paul’s friend, and I had the opportunity to meet him and listen to him play in Paul’s studio about three years ago. His wife, Ruth, is a wonderful singer and we chatted at the session. I was looking forward to seeing them again.

As Paul is my duo partner in You Are Here and I am his recording studio engineer of choice, we went to the film “Charlie Haden: Rambling Boy” together on Thu, Oct 15th 6:30pm.

Charlie had not wanted us to record him in the studio and I thought he might also be a bit sensitive about me taking photos, so I did not bring my camera. The film showed a retrospective of Charlie’s career and introduced everyone to his musical family.

His early life was similar to the story of Lenny Breau, Canadian jazz guitar legend as they share roots in country and traditional music. Both musicians grew up in the midwest, Charlie in Missouri, Lenny in Winnipeg; and they both were featured on their parents’ radio show from a very early age. Growing up in a musical family can be a tremendous asset, but as both musicians matured they were attracted by the harmonies and structures of jazz music and moved away from their rural roots.

The film showed cameos of Charlie Haden playing with a lot of famous musicians including Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarret and Alice Coltrane.

The movie “Rambling Boy” revealed a lot of Charlie’s life and his struggle to preserve his beliefs in the commercial music world. I really enjoyed the movie and it was wonderful to meet Mr. Haden and his wife, Ruth, as they remebered me adjusting the bass amp to get his sound. It would be a great joy to hear him play again as he was the most soulful bass soloist I have ever heard.

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