Charlie Haden: Rambling Boy

Man, this guy is great.  And the film does well to highlight his musical genius and vision.  Unfortunately, we only get a glimpse at his politics but anyone who puts together a band called the Liberation Music Orchestra and goes to jail for justice…well, as Anne Feeney sings, they’re a friend of mine.

I wish I had the musical background to comment on Charlie Haden’s contribution to the jazz scene and music world in general, but that’s one of the strengths of this film.  It also gives us solid stretches of his playing with various other jazz masters, while taking us on a journey through his musical life.

The highlight for me was when Charlie was in Portugal and dedicated a song to the Black Liberation Struggles in Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, and Angola and the huge crowd erupted for minutes of pandemonium, completely drowning out their music.  It then showed how scary life can be for fathers in this world when he was jailed the next day.  His privilege rescued him, however, but the world had changed again thanks to Charlie Haden.