Audio Geek: Charlie Haden: Living the Dream and Goin' Home

Yep, catching up on my NPR.

Charlie Haden, a jazz icon with bluegrass roots, a child singing radio star who peformed with his parents and siblings singing until polio impacted his vocal chords. He started playing bass due to a crush on Anita, the then fifteen-year-old female bassist for the Carter Sisters. Haden remembers, "When she picked up the bass and started playing, I said 'man, oh, man, that's it!'"

Women bass players, a powerful force--look what that talented girl set into motion!

Haden comes home to this first love with his latest release, Charlie Haden Family & Friends - Rambling Boy. This record is an inspiration for doing what you love, and demonstrates music can be an important part of a family's expression of the relationships between its members, and a profound legacy of love. This is a family of performers, musicians, and songwriters--vocalist/musicians triplets Petra, Rachel, and Tanya; songwriting son Josh who sings his own song, previously covered by Johnny Cash; Tanya's husband actor/musician Jack Black who supplies vocals, and of course Charlie Haden, who modestly says: "All I did was play bass." Plus there's a host of world-class musicians from the country and jazz arenas who guested on the album out of their deep respect for Charlie Haden.

Live your dreams, live your dreams!

NPR interview with Haden and his children.