The Ballad of the Fallen

by Charlie Haden

The Ballad of the Fallen cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: October 1983
  • Label: ECM
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 51:41
  • Community rating: 4.08/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Reconvening the Liberation Music Orchestra alongside arranger Carla Bley, Haden presents a deeply poignant suite of political jazz. The ensemble tackles folk songs from the Spanish Civil War and Latin American resistance movements, transforming them into lush, melancholic orchestral jazz statements. The album serves as a gorgeous, mournful tribute to victims of political oppression and imperialism.

Genres

Descriptors: instrumental, political, orchestral, progressive, ensemble

Tracklist

  1. Els Segadors (The Reapers) (4:11)
  2. The Ballad Of The Fallen (4:22)
  3. If You Want To Write Me (3:59)
  4. Grandola Vila Morena (2:13)
  5. Introduction To People (3:48)
  6. The People United Will Never Be Defeated (1:41)
  7. Silence (5:40)
  8. Too Late (8:22)
  9. La Pasionaria (10:25)
  10. La Santa Espina (7:00)

Credits

  • Charlie Haden - primary artist, bass, written-by
  • Carla Bley - primary artist, piano, glockenspiel, arranged by, written-by
  • Steve Slagle - clarinet, flute, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
  • Paul Motian - drums, percussion
  • Jim Pepper - flute, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
  • Sharon Freeman - french horn
  • Mick Goodrick - guitar
  • Celia - painting

More from Charlie Haden: full discography