Liberation Music Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Liberation Music Orchestra is a large jazz ensemble that the bassist Charlie Haden founded in 1969, the first band under his own leadership. The arrangements were by the pianist Carla Bley. Haden started the group at the height of the war in Vietnam, out of frustration that the government put so much energy into that war and so little into problems at home. The music was experimental and explored both free jazz and political music. The first album dealt with music from the Spanish Civil War, which had greatly inspired Haden.

Music and breakthrough

The original line-up included Gato Barbieri, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Don Cherry, Andrew Cyrille, Roswell Rudd and Howard Johnson, among others. With the orchestra Haden wanted to let the voices of oppressed peoples be heard and to show solidarity with progressive movements around the world. In 1982 The Ballad of the Fallen appeared on ECM, which again dealt with the Spanish Civil War and with the American role in Latin America. The group toured extensively in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990 it returned with Dream Keeper, and in 2005 Haden brought it together with new members for Not In Our Name, which dealt with American politics of that moment. In 2016 Time/Life appeared.

Influence

The orchestra showed that jazz could be a vehicle for political protest, without the music becoming a slogan. In this way it became a model for later politically engaged jazz projects.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1990Dream Keeper
• 2016Time/Life

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 3^NL Reader