Milcho Leviev + Charlie Haden: First Meeting (1986, Pan Music) Side One

Milcho Leviev was born in Bulgaria in 1937. Same year as my father. He was appointed as the conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band in 1962. He moved to Los Angeles in 1970. He worked with Don Ellis, Billy Cobham, Lainie Kazan, and Art Pepper.Charlie had lots of respect for his piano playing. I remember my dad walking around saying “Milcho” a lot. I think Milcho conducted Liberation Music Orchestra when Carla wasn’t available, for a time.I’m not sure when Milcho and Charlie first met. It had to have been before 1986, the year First Meeting was released. They played a duet gig at the Comeback Inn in 1983. Milcho was music director there.Side one opens with their version of Ornette’s “When Will The Blues Leave”. Into the Miles Davis tune “Nardis”. They play a song co-written by the two of them, “Beaup”. Closes with “J.S.”, written by Milcho in collaboration with Bach.I’ll post side two next week.In this Substack podcast I listen to albums from the record collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. I’m writing a book of Memoires about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com.All words and images © 2024 Josh Haden, the Estate of Charlie Haden, except by respective copyright holders.Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe