Charlie Haden and Hank Jones - Steal Away: Spirituals Hymns & Folk Songs

"...Bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Hank Jones perform a variety of spirituals, hymns and folk songs as duets. The traditional music (which includes such tunes as "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child" and "We Shall Overcome") are all performed respectfully and with reverence. These melodic yet subtly swinging interpretations hold one's interest throughout and reward repeated listenings." - allmusic.com

From the outset of his career with Ornette Coleman, through his work with pianist Keith Jarrett, his own Liberation Music Orchestra and collaborations with the likes of Paul Motian, Hampton Hawes, Chet Baker, Carlos Paredes and Ginger Baker, bassist Charlie Haden has always given the spiritual component of music greater importance than its technical considerations.

Haden's finest work has always focused on the most intimate, humanistic principles: freedom, justice, quality. In pianist Hank Jones, Haden encounters a collaborator and fellow traveler whose musical instincts are every inch as elegant and refined as his own. And in the rich public domain of materials which make up Steal Away, Haden and Jones take on an oral (and moral) tradition of music that has been inspiring listeners since before the time of the underground railroad. For the most part, Haden and Jones downplay their jazz stylings--"We Shall Overcome" being a joyous exception--in favor of simple expressive declamations, imparting a timeless feel to each performance.

These solemn hymns, spirituals and folk songs performed by bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Hank Jones were recorded at Radio Canada Studio B in Montreal, Canada June 29 & 30, 1994. Steal Away was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Peformance, Individual or Group. "Go Down, Moses" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.