This is Haig at his finestbig, broad, cocky, take-charge and lush. In addition to his superlative pedal tones and grand voicings, Haig hits the keys with locomotive force and deploys the most sterling, rolling improvised runs without ever losing the darling quality of Kern's compositions.
Recorded four years away from his death in 1982, this session was his second-to-last studio date. Which is a shame, since he
As we know from Grange Rutan's Death of a Bebop Wife, Haig wasn't the nicest guy in the world. He was acquited in 1969 of killing his third wifethough in her book, Grange (Haig's second wife) challenged his claim that the victim had died of a fall. Grange detailed Haig's long history of wife-battering and spousal abuse, and she conducted dozens of interviews.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Al Haig Plays the Music of
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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