Tom Schnabel remembers jazz musician Charlie Haden

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A photo of Charlie Haden from 2008, by Tim Dickeson.

The jazz world is mourning today the death of a great musician. Bassist Charlie Haden passed away at the age of 77, after a long illness.

Haden – a three-time Grammy winner – was born in the Midwest, but came to LA in the 1950s, enrolling at Westlake College of Modern Music.

His music and performances touched on political themes at times, a mirror of the audiences he played to here in California back in the 60s and 70s.

In the 1980s, he formed Quartet West which highlighted more cinematic themes in his music.

KCRW’s Tom Schnabel joined Steve Chiotakis to talk about Haden’s life and what he meant not only to LA and the world, but to KCRW as well.

You can listen to Tom’s 1999 interview with Charlie Haden here.