CD review: Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau – Long Ago & Far Away (Live) (2007) – 2018: Video

“As a result we have a dazzling testament to the interaction between two genius musicians: piano and bass, their brilliance resounding through the hallowed space of an art nouveau cathedral, recorded on November 5, 2007.

(…) Charlie is gone now, and this recording was made “long ago and far away”, yet the music remains immediate. The music is now.” – Ruth Cameron Haden, July 2018. After meeting for the first time back in 1993, Haden found a way to bring Mehldau out to LA to perform with himself and Lee Konitz at the Jazz Bakery in 1996. This led to a trio recording on Blue Note (1997) called Alone Together. In 2011, he and Brad recorded a live album with Lee Konitz and Paul Motian for ECM called Live at Birdland. Mehldau and Haden remained friends from the time of their first meeting – they had a special connection. In the early days, Haden, in a sense, mentored this young pianist in life lessons. He would later go on to pronounce Mehldau one of the most important musicians of his generation because of his unique voice, his depth of knowledge and facility on the instrument, and how he has moved the language of jazz forward.

1. Au Privave
2. My Old Flame
3. What’ll I Do
4. Long Ago And Far Away
5. My Love And I
6. Everything Happens To Me

Live At Enjoy Jazz Festival, Christuskirche, Mannheim / Nov. 5, 2007

Released 26/10/18