Long ago And Far Away

Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau

Hello everybody, hope you are all well and just wanted to mention that there’s a new live duo recording of the late great Charlie Haden and I that’s been recently released. It’s called Long Ago And Far Away. The music comes from a concert at the EnjoyJazz festival in Mannheim, Germany from 2007. It was a special night with a fantastic audience. Their focused listening, I believe, helped the music unfold at a meditative pace. It’s a strong testament, I think, to Charlie’s completely free way of playing, on tracks like the title track or the Bird blues Au Privave. This kind of harmonic freedom was only possible with Charlie and it was exhilarating to interact with him musically when he was around. He was also an important mentor for me.

Charlie lived in Malibu, California in the time I knew him and his wife, my dear friend Ruth Haden (who was largely responsible for shepherding this record into existence, with warm thanks to Impulse France for releasing it), is still there. As many of you probably know, one of the fires in California, known as the Woolsey fire, is still burning in Malibu. We send our prayers to Ruth and all of the people in the beautiful state of California who have already suffered from these devastating fires, in towns like Paradise further north as well. I am so sorry for the loss and pain that people have endured and wish them strength. 

– Brad Mehldau, November 2018

(Photo above: © Evert-Jan Hielma)

Listen on Spotify

Credits:

Charlie Haden, bass
Brad Mehldau, piano