Review: Echoes of a master fill a tribute to Charlie Haden at CalArts

There was a fleeting moment on Saturday night during a loving, two-and-a-half-hour tribute to the life of Charlie Haden, held at the striking outdoor theater dubbed the Wild Beast at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, when the concert fell short of capturing the stature of the man.

It was no fault of the musicians, faculty or admirers who had gathered for the show because, realistically, no show ever could. A titan of composition and improvisation, Haden forged new pathways through music while also founding the jazz program at CalArts, where he helped establish a West Coast hub of inspiration and education from 1982 until his death in July 2014 at age 76.

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A similar tribute concert held in New York City in January was a more star-studded affair with the likes of Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau. The show was something of a roll call for jazz in New York City, where Haden’s indelible work with Ornette Coleman, as well as his own recordings, established him as one of the patriarchs of the music. But as his life went on, particularly as seen through his 32 years of instruction of CalArts, the Iowa-born Haden became a son of L.A.

In that sense, what better way to honor his life than an evening filled with the echoes of his efforts?

Hosted by his wife, Ruth Cameron Haden, the night was as much about the vibrant program Charlie Haden established as the man himself. Stacked with a lineup of musicians who studied under him or taught alongside him, the evening began with faculty member David Roitstein combining with 1990 CalArts graduate Ravi Coltrane on “For Turiya.”

Written by Haden in tribute to Coltrane’s mother, Alice, the slow-burning piece set a contemplative tone for the evening with Roitstein’s piano rumbling alongside Coltrane, who reprised his appearance at Haden’s New York tribute with a performance that churned with a spiritual intensity.

Ensembles formed of Haden’s past students honored songs selected from Haden’s later period, including the bass-and-piano duet between Roitstein and Nedra Wheeler, “Waltz for Ruth” (from the 1997 Pat Metheny collaboration “Beyond the Missouri Sky”) and “Nightfall,” which featured delicate harmony between trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Peter Epstein.

Alessi, Coltrane and Epstein formed a formidable frontline on “Turnaround,” which was introduced as one of Haden’s favorite Ornette Coleman compositions, and special guest Ernie Watts dug deep into his tenor saxophone with a yearning run to close “First Song,” a song from Haden’s long-running Quartet West.

Petra, Tanya and Rachel Haden, the jazzman’s daughters best known as the Haden Triplets, nodded toward their father’s beloved “hillbilly music” roots with a mini-set that began with the radiant harmonies of “Single Girl, Married Girl” and continued through some playful sibling banter that offered a welcome respite from the night’s naturally somber underpinnings (“Petra, Petra, Petra,” Rachel joked, referencing “The Brady Bunch” before Petra Haden’s standout performance of “Shenandoah”).

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After a break in the music to posthumously honor Haden as a CalArts Institute Fellow, in a presentation by board chair Tim Disney, the CalArts Liberation Music Orchestra conducted by Vinny Golia took the stage. A free-swinging, protest-minded band that combined Haden’s lifelong passions for beauty and social justice, the LMO swerved through “Silence” and “Not in Our Name.”

All CalArts alumni and faculty were invited onstage for Haden’s traditional set closer “We Shall Overcome,” and while the already large ensemble added a handful of members (including two more bass players), you couldn’t help but feel there was still room for so many more.

It was a quibble, however. In thinking about those who felt the impact of Haden’s music during his life and beyond, no stage could possibly hold us all.

Want to read more 140 characters at a time? Follow me @chrisbarton.