ne of the founding fathers of free-jazz Charlie Haden has died at the age of 76. In a statement the National Endowment for the Arts commented on the bassist/composer's passing: "It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of bassist, composer, and educator Charlie Haden, recipient of a 2012 NEA Jazz Masters fellowship, the nation's highest honour in jazz. Charlie Haden created a powerful collection of work during his long and productive career. Lyrical and expressive on the bass, he embraced a variety of musical genres, ranging from jazz to country to world music. His work as an educator led to the creation of the Jazz Studies programme at the California Institute of the Arts in 1982 where he focused on the spirituality of improvisation."
Tributes have flooded in on social media and will continue to. Haden's label ECM who released his chart topping duo album Last Dance with Keith Jarrett earlier in the summer commented: "It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Charlie Haden, born August 6, 1937 in Shenandoah, Iowa, passed away today at 10:11 Pacific time in Los Angeles after a prolonged illness. Ruth Cameron, his wife of 30 years, and his children Josh Haden, Tanya Haden, Rachel Haden and Petra Haden were all by his side."
Haden as a child sang on his parents' country and western radio show and began playing bass in his early teens. In 1957 he moved to Los Angeles, where he performed with Art Pepper, Hampton Hawes, Paul Bley, and Dexter Gordon and in LA first met Ornette Coleman, joining the saxophonist's groundbreaking free-jazz quartet with trumpeter Don Cherry and drummer Billy Higgins.
From 1959's The Shape of Jazz to Come to 1961's This Is Our Music Haden with Ornette helped revolutinise jazz. A decade later he formed his own large ensemble the Liberation Music Orchestra and from 1967 to 1976 worked with Keith Jarrett's in both trio and quartet settings.
In the 1980s Haden formed Quartet West, a vehicle for more mainstream material grounded in the heritage of old Hollywood, and also duetted with Hank Jones, Alice Coltrane, and Pat Metheny among others.
His awards over a long and hugely influential career in music included the Montreal Jazz Festival's Miles Davis Award; a Guggenheim Fellowship; and four NEA grants for composition.
