The Ballad of the Fallen

The Ballad of the Fallen
Studio album by Charlie Haden
Released	1983
Recorded	1982 November
Genre	Experimental big band Avant-garde jazz
Length	51:51
Label	ECM
Producer	Manfred Eicher
Charlie Haden chronology
Time Remembers One Time Once (1981) The Ballad of the Fallen (1983) Quartet West (1986)
Liberation Music Orchestra chronology
Liberation Music Orchestra (1969) The Ballad of the Fallen (1983) Dream Keeper (1990)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]

The Ballad of the Fallen is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden, 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 Bley also placed first in that 1984 poll's Acoustic Bass and Composer categories, respectively.

The album is in fact the second by Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra,^[3] the follow-up to their 1969 Liberation Music Orchestra. Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Michael Mantler, Paul Motian, Dewey Redman, and Haden himself reappeared in the LMO's new incarnation, together with six new members.

Track listing

LP side A:^[4]

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

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

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

- “Grandola Vila Morena” (José Afonso) – 2:11

- “Introduction to People” (Carla Bley) – 3:55

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

3. “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

(Arrangements by Carla Bley.)

Personnel

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

External links / References / Awards

1. Allmusic review
2. Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 91. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
3. The Ballad of the Fallen at AllMusic
4. Ballad of the Fallen at discogs.com

• Down Beat magazine critic's poll 1984 results