The Friday song (on a Sunday): ‘Turnaround’ (featuring Hampton Hawes) by Charlie Haden

If you’re a jazz fan, I wouldn’t disagree if you picked Charlie Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Paul Chambers, Dave Holland, Ron Carter or one of four or five others as your double-bass player of choice. However, I’ve never met anyone who has taken issue with my preference for Charlie Haden as my all-time favourite. 

Starting in the avant-garde and making his name with Ornette Coleman’s groundbreaking late-50s quartet, Haden’s work became political in the Liberation Orchestra before turning to a quieter, more contemplative period of lyricism and tonal exploration. Like a Rothko painting, Haden’s playing invites you to enter its stillness and emotional centre. 

His warm tone comes from his attack, the quality of the wood of his double bass and the gut strings (as opposed to the usual steel wound strings) he used, which made the sound all the more tactile. I listened to a bunch of Haden’s tracks this week and if you are interested after today’s track, get in touch and I can send you examples of his playing in duet, trio, quartet, and big band settings.  

Charlie Haden: where to begin

Haden’s playing is beautiful, empathetic and demonstrates musicality, not just the timing of a rhythmic player. Listen today to Turnaround (a turnaround is the resolutive part of a piece which takes you back to the start point), the Ornette Coleman standard which Haden has recorded in duet, trio and quartet formats as one of the tracks from his 1977 album, The Golden Number. 

Haden’s on bass and features Hampton Hawes on piano on one of three recordings of this track by this pairing that I know of. Hawes’s playing is muscular, whether accentuating notes or clustering chords, while Haden moves between a prodding pulse and a spacious solo. They switch melody duties seamlessly in a thoughtful duet, where both players seek only to serve the song.  It’s about the easiest track on that superb album and a glimpse into one of modern jazz’s most astonishing double-bass players. 

I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. You’ll read it here on a Sunday. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.

Listen to Turnaround on Spotify here and Apple Music here.

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