The Ballad of the Fallen

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The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

The Ballad of the Fallen is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, with arrangements by Carla Bley, that was recorded in 1982 and released in 1983. The album was voted jazz album of the year in Down Beat magazine's 1984 critic's poll. Haden and Carla Bley placed first in that 1984 poll's Acoustic Bass and Composer categories, respectively.

The album is the second by Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the follow-up to their 1969 Liberation Music Orchestra. Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Michael Mantler, Paul Motian, Dewey Redman, and Haden himself appeared in the LMO's new incarnation with six new members.

Track listing

• LP side A:

1. "Els Segadors" ("The Reapers") (Catalan traditional) – 4:14

2. "The Ballad of the Fallen" (folk song from El Salvador) – 4:19

3. - "If You Want to Write Me" ("Si Me Quieres Escribir") (traditional) – 3:55

4. - "Grandola Vila Morena" (José Afonso) – 2:11

5. - "Introduction to People" (Carla Bley) – 3:55

6. - "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" ("El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido!") (Sergio Ortega) – 1:40

7. "Silence" (Charlie Haden) – 5:49

LP side B:

1. "Too Late" (Carla Bley) – 8:24

2. "La Pasionaria" (Charlie Haden) – 10:26

3. "La Santa Espina" (Àngel Guimerà/Enric Morera) – 6:58

Personnel

• Charlie Haden – double bass
• Carla Bley – piano, glockenspiel, arrangements
• Dewey Redman – tenor saxophone
• Jim Pepper – flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Steve Slagle – clarinet, flute, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Michael Mantler – trumpet
• Gary Valente – trombone
• Sharon Freeman – French horn
• Jack Jeffers – tuba
• Don Cherry – pocket trumpet
• Mick Goodrick – guitar
• Paul Motian – percussion, drums

External links

• The Story behind the Ballad of the Fallen, by Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra at The Music Aficionado, Jan.3, 2017
• Liner notes at ECM, accessed 5/1/2018