Music Review: Charlie Haden Family & Friends – Rambling Boy

Did you hear the one about the old jazz musician, his triplet daughters, and the famous actor/comedian who doubles as a son-in-law?

If you haven’t, you should. There’s no punch line here, just one fabulous record called Rambling Boy by Charlie Haden Family & Friends (Decca Records, released September 23). And put the emphasis of this masterful collection on family, as in All in the Family, Family Affair, and “The Family that Prays and Sings Together, Stays Together.”

They all apply here. First and foremost is Charlie Haden, a world-renowned jazz bassist (Liberation Music Orchestra, Quartet West) who first teamed in the 1950s with Ornette Coleman, then became a Grammy-winning performer with jazz guitarist (and close friend) Pat Metheny during a prolific career in which he recorded with legends from John Coltrane to Ringo Starr to Herbie Hancock.

But Good-time Charlie, who was born in Iowa and grew up in Missouri, has always wanted to return to his Midwestern roots, as in roots music, those old-timey, rootin’-tootin’-cowboy roots. And with his talented family, including his wife and co-producer Ruth Cameron, Haden was able to plant his feet firmly into his past.

With more than a little help from his friends, too, Haden takes us on a historical journey through America’s Heartland, when the country was deeply invested in Family Values in the form of traditional, inspirational and spiritual numbers performed by the likes of the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, Hank Williams, and Bill Monroe.

Strong support came from acclaimed musicians and singer/songwriters of down-home, nitty-gritty country, contemporary Americana and one especially hard-working rock ’n’roll superstar from across the pond. Among the guest stars contributing stellar lead vocals are Vince Gill (“Rambling Boy”), Bruce Hornsby (“20/20 Vision”), Rosanne Cash (“The Wildwood Flower”), the smooth-as-silk Elvis Costello (Hank Williams’ “You Win Again”) and that surprising good ’ol boy of a son-in-law, Jack Black, who’s miles away from Tenacious D while conjuring up his inner hillbilly in the foot-stomping “Old Joe Clark.”

The musicianship is superb here, too, with some of the best folks available inside (and outside) Nashville. Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Ricky Skaggs (banjo, mandolin), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Hornsby (piano) and Metheny (guitar) are among the standouts on multiple tracks, while Bela Fleck leads an extraordinary array of performers through “Old Joe Clark.”

Article Author: Michael Bialas

A newspaper editor and former college football player, Michael Bialas makes sports his business but exploring and reviewing music, movies, TV and other forms of pop culture are among the games he enjoys playing now.
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