tokyo adagio - booklet

7/24/2019 Tokyo Adagio - Booklet

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CHARLIEHADEN

GONZALORUBALCABA

TOKYOADAGIO


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CHARLIEHADEN

GONZALORUBALCABA

TOKYOADAGIO


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1. EN LA ORILLA DEL MUNDO (THE EDGE OF THE WORLD) 9:05 (Rojas Martin) Larringa Music Publishing Inc. / ASCAP

2. MY LOVE AND I 11:55 (Johnny Mercer / David Raksin) Warner Chappell Music Inc. / Valentina Music Company / ASCAP

3. WHEN WILL THE BLUES LEAVE 8:30 (Ornette Coleman) Songs of Concord - Concord Music Group Inc. / ASCAP

4. SANDINO 5:47 (Charlie Haden) Liberation Music / BMI

5. SOLAMENTE UNA VEZ (YOU BELONG TO MY HEART) 9:13 (Lara Aguirre Agustin) APRS C/0 Peer Music / BMI

6. TRANSPARENCE 7:19

(Gonzalo Rubalcaba) Oren Music Co. / ASCAP

Charlie Haden(bass) - Gonzalo Rubalcaba(piano)


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various studio recordings, one of whichwas made in collaboration with Gonzalo

called Nocturne. Musically, Charlieplays mainly a supporting part here, asbassists do, while Gonzalo does mostof the elaboration, however its Charliewho is directing the flow. It is Charliewho is the producer

Ive been listening to Tokyo Adagioforsix months now, and every time I hear itIm struck by its sense of calm. Thereseven a feeling of serenity in the two up-tempo numbers: Charlies compositionSandino (whose title commemoratesthe Nicaraguan revolutionary leader),and Ornette Colemans When Will the

Blues Leave (which originally ap-peared on Colemans groundbreaking1958 album Something Else!!!!. ThoughGonzalo is elsewhere a grandmasterof rhythmic complexity at high velocity,thats not what is happening here instead a virtuosic sense of timekeepingmanifests itself as simultaneities

occur seemingly out of nowhere.

One of the qualities I most prize aboutthis album is its paradoxical sense of

timelessness and placelessness --beyond jet lag, beyond the endless greyhours spent at 35,000 feet to get to thegig -- framed in a specific time and place.

Tokyo, March 16-19, 2005: an audiencein evening clothes, ordering drinks inJapanese whispers and inadvertentlyclinking their silverware, listened raptlyas Gonzalo Rubalcaba and CharlieHaden connected with an almostZen sense of stillness in a nocturnalmusicspace. Its the paradox ofrecording: the moment is gone, but themoment is forever, encapsulating who

the two men were when they playedtogether. By the time this recordingwas made, they had been playingtogether for twenty years, leavingindelible imprints on each othersmusical identities.

All six numbers on this album have

appeared previously on Charlies

TIMELESSNESS, AT NIGHTby Ned Sublette


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Orilla del Mundo (whose lyric,unheard here, describes wandering toan unfamiliar shore), and You BelongTo My Heart is Agustn Laras well-known bolero Solamente Una Vezwhose title translates to Only Once(and whose lyric proposes that love isthe hope that illuminates ones path.)

For me, the most touching momentappears at the conclusion: Gonzaloscomposition Transparence whoselast musical utterance the closeof the album -- is played by Charliewho continues after Gonzalos endingto play a figure that descends to the

tonic, conveying a sense of finality thatseems especially poignant now. Interms of sequencing the album, thatwas a compositional choice: TokyoAdagiowas put together with Charliesfull participation before he departed,and it was he who gave the album its

haunting name.

Charlie loved movie music -- My Loveand I is by quintessential Hollywoodcomposer David Raksin -- and he hada streak of nostalgic romanticism thatsuffuses this recording. Two of thenumbers are better known by theiroriginal Spanish titles: The Edge ofthe World is Martn Rojass En La

2005, Yasuhisa Yoneda


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Then in 1986, when I was twenty-three, Charlie came to Cuba with his

Liberation Music Orchestra to play atthe Havana Jazz Plaza Festival. I hadjust flown in directly from Moscowafter performing in the Soviet Union.I dont know exactly how it happenedthat the festival programmed mygroup, Projecto, on the same concertwith the Liberation Music Orchestra,but, lets just say, that nothinghappens on earth that is not observedby divine forces.

After we played our set, Charlie cameover to talk to me. I didnt understanda word of English, so we had to have a

translator. We have to play together,he said to me. How can we do that?He and I had someone arrange for usto go the EGREM recording studio thevery next day. Charlie pulled out somecharts and we played together for twoor three hours. He left with a cassette ofthe session. He was very enthusiastic,

and when he got back to the U.S, he

This album is the result of a four-nightresidency Charlie Haden and I played

at the Blue Note in Tokyo in March,2005. Over the years, we made musictogether in many different formats trios, quartets, larger groups but thisdate was just us, a duo of piano and bass.

I first learned about Charlie whenI was a teenager in Havana. It wasdifficult getting information in Cubaat that time, and it was even moredifficult to find out about music fromthe United States. But every night,Monday through Friday at 11pm,Horacio Hernndez (father of drummerHoracio El Negro Hernndez)

presented his jazz program on CMBFRadio Musical Nacional, and for thathalf hour I was glued to the radio.One night he played Keith Jarretts,The Survivors Suite, announcing themusicians names -- Dewey Redmanon tenor, Paul Motian on drums,Charlie Haden on bass. I engraved

those names into my brain.

ABRIENDO CAMINOS / OPENING THE PATHSby Gonzalo Rubalcaba, as told to Ned Sublette


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The first album we made, Discovery,was subsequently recorded live at the

Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990, in atrio also with Paul Motian on drums.Bruce was at the concert as were theJapanese executives who approved thedeal after we finished playing. At thetime, the US wouldnt let me enter thecountry, so we recorded the secondalbum The Blessing with Charlie andJack DeJohnette in a studio in Canada.For me, just beginning my career, theway Charlie went about opening thepath for me, made all the difference.

Despite the gap in our ages, he nevertreated me as an inferior in any sense.

We had each others confidence. Wecould talk about politics, life, family,business. Spending so much time withhim, I learned not only about music,but also about being. Our connectionwas about love, for the music and forour families, and for each other.

took the tape to Bruce Lundvall of BlueNote Records: Bruce, I want you to

hear this. You gotta sign this kid, helives in Cuba!

Dizzy Gillespie had been in Cuba beforeCharlie, and Dizzy had already beentalking about me, and Bruce had heardthe talk. But Charlie was much moredirect and assertive. He was persistentand diligent about making sure ithappened. There was a major obstacle,however: it was illegal in the US to signa Cuban artist, so it had to be donethrough an affiliated company, ToshibaEMI in Japan. In the meantime, Charliefigured out a way for us to play an

important concert together by invitingme to come to the 1989 Montreal JazzFestival as his guest. The plan wasfor me to play a concert with him, andPaul Motian on drums, as part of thefestival which had organized a 10-daytribute to Charlie. This was recordedby CBC and later became part of

Charlies The Montreal Tapes series.


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perform with him at a major concert inMontreal, Canada, and to later recordwith him. Gonzalo was subsequentlyable to get a recording contract, andthe rest is history.

Once Charlie was confined to homebecause he had become to ill to travel,

he began to listen to tapes of previousconcerts and discovered this gem.He immediately called Jean-PhilippeAllard, our producer from impulse!Universal Music France, and a stalwartsupporter of Charlie and his musicthroughout the years. Charlie askedJean-Philippe to listen to the music.This had to be released! It was too goodto be lost forever.

Once Jean Philippe had listened to thetapes, he, too, agreed and together webegan to choose the most importanttracks to go on the album. Charlie

Charlie often said to me, and others,that he was an adagio guy - and hewas! He loved the slow movements inclassical pieces. Hence the title of thisalbum is so appropriate.

By 2005 Charlie was already starting toexperience the ill effects of post-polio

syndrome that would later hasten hisdeath. He had been battling aspirationpneumonia but nevertheless insistedon traveling all the way to Japan toperform with Gonzalo. Gonzalo wasfamily and he wanted to take thisopportunity to perform with himin duo. To explore the music in anintimate setting which was one ofCharlies favorite musical endeavors.

He remembered their first meetingin Cuba in 1986 - so many years ago -when he first heard this young genius.He had then figured out a way to

CHARLIE HADEN - AN ADAGIO GUYby Ruth Cameron-Haden


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listened for days with great intensity,using his refined senses until he madehis decisions. His ear was huge and healways made the right musical choices.The mood is intimate, even hushed aseach musician listens to the other,creating a tapestry woven from sheerbeauty.

Charlie and I are so lucky to have loyalfriends in producers Jean-PhilippeAllard and Farida Bachir who love themusic as much as Charlie and Gonzaloand I do that they want to release itto the world.

We are now all so lucky to be able toshare in this listening experience.Charlie has passed on but his spiritremains with us in his music forever.

Lovingly, RuthLos Angeles, March 9, 2015 2005, Yasuhisa Yoneda


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Recorded Live at Blue Note Tokyo, Japan on March 16th to March 19th, 2005

Produced by: Charlie Haden, Ruth Cameron-Hadenand Jean-Philippe AllardExecutive Producer & Art Direction: Farida Bachir

Mixed by Jay NewlandMastered by Mark Wilderat Battery Studios, NY

Liner notes: Ned Sublette, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ruth Cameron-Haden

Cover Photography: 2015, Trey RatcliffLiner Photography: 2005, Yasuhisa Yoneda(at Blue Note Tokyo)

Designed by Patrice Beausjour& Marielle Costosque, CB Graphic

Gonzalo Rubalcaba appears courtesy of 5Passion.

2015Blue Note Japan Inc., under exclusive license to impulse ! A division of Universal Music France2015impulse! A division of Universal Music France

www.impulse-label.com

Thank you to Sakae Kobayashi and Iori Ono at Blue Note Tokyo.


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2005, Yasuhisa Yoneda


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tokyo adagio - booklet

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