Montreal Tapes - Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Gonzalo Rubalcaba (1997)

Haden played bass on Ornette Coleman’s path-finding free jazz albums in the 50s, and kept on innovating. He founded the Liberation Music Orchestra, a mix of anti-colonial political activism and free jazz. He stayed involved with the jazz world up to his death in 2014.

In 1989, Haden set up shop at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and played each night with a different selection of sidemen. They’ve been released as “the Montreal Tapes”, only distinguishable by the artists credited. Not exactly ideal for searching Youtube.

The one I owned on CD and have fond memories of was the session with Paul Bley and Paul Motian, but that one seems to be the one release in the series that isn’t streaming anywhere.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. He does a great job here. But Haden always tends to steal the show, and having one of the best drummers in jazz behind it all makes Rubalcaba unfairly stuck in the background.