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Petra Haden

PETRA HADEN In a restlessly eclectic, wholly unique musical career that spans two and a half decades, Petra Haden has established a singular reputation for creativity and versatility, and a unique niche that's allowed her to apply her multiple talents to a dazzlingly diverse array of music.

As a singer, instrumentalist and composer, Haden has built an impressively varied and accomplished discography encompassing her work as part of the beloved alt-rock quartet That Dog, her collaborations with a broad array of acts, and a series of her own releases, which often showcase her unique talent for constructing complex, evocative a capella arrangements by inventively layering multiple tracks of her own voice.

What Haden's far-flung creative endeavors share in common is a consistent sense of adventure and expression, along with a playful sensibility that gives her projects a consistently uplifting, inventive spirit that marks them as uniquely hers.

As one of the triplet daughters of the late, legendary jazz bassist and composer Charlie Haden, Petra was literally born into a life in music. She first picked up the violin at the age of seven, after being inspired by watching older street musicians playing.

Petra's early fascination with the violin and other instruments led her to develop an uncanny ability to use her voice to recreate the sounds of the instruments she heard, and to develop elaborate pop, jazz, blues and classical arrangements based on those sounds. While she was in high school, her father bought her a four-track recording deck, on which she taught herself to overdub multiple vocal tracks.

Petra first gained widespread notoriety with the '90s quartet That Dog, which also included her sister Rachel, and whose three albums of hook-filled, harmony-laden punk-pop won the band an enthusiastic fan base and considerable press enthusiasm. Petra was still a member of That Dog in 1996, when she released her first solo album, Imaginaryland, which introduced her method of layering her vocals in unexpected and wonderful ways.

After That Dog disbanded, Petra took advantage of her new solo status to apply her talents to a wide variety of musical challenges. Her 2005 album Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out reimagined The Who’s 1967 classic through her tour de force a cappella interpretation. The complexity of Petra’s massed vocals belied the fact that she constructed the tracks at home while recovering from some serious injuries from an auto accident, recording on an eight track cassette recorder (a Tascam 488) given to her by friend Mike Watt, who’s idea this was. He explains, “ Why Petra Haden? First of all, I like the way she does music and I was interested in how'd she interpret a work w/such a personal connection between me and D. Boon (I know, that probably sounds insane). Second, I know when she has a real focus and she can really apply herself, especially in those times when she’s had some intense things tugging at her. I know D. Boon would've loved the idea too, such a trip for us to see something reinvented that we knew so well but in a genuine way since Petra knew nothing of it before. That's what was in my mind - that Petra would bring an earthiness w/out any preconceptions and make it new for me. I don't know, it was a weird thing to ask of her, like a dare but I knew she was oh so capable.”

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Radio & Podcasts

Petra Haden, Bill Frisell, Jimmy Heath, Jorge Roeder & More

Read "Petra Haden, Bill Frisell, Jimmy Heath, Jorge Roeder & More" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


As we continue our exploration of the best in new and upcoming jazz, this week we look into a unique project featuring the music of John Zorn and lyrics of Jesse Harris written with the unique voice of Petra Haden in mind, a special album that blends beautifully with the new releases by Bill Frisell, Jorge Roeder and Ron Miles, Jimmy Heath's musical testament, a Spinal-Tappy jazz take on the music of Black Sabbath and much more. Happy ...

Album Review

Petra Haden, Jesse Harris: Seemed Like A Good Idea - Petra Haden Sings Jesse Harris

Read "Seemed Like A Good Idea - Petra Haden Sings Jesse Harris" reviewed by Luca Muchetti


Al crocevia di molti percorsi che di jazz hanno in realtà molto poco, e guardano piuttosto al folk contemporaneo e al pop acustico incontriamo questo album, frutto dell'unione artistica della violinista e cantante Petra Haden e del chitarrista Jesse Harris. Seemed Like a Good Idea è un disco tutto all'insegna della leggerezza, nel senso migliore del termine. “Autumn Song," posta in apertura, sembra un manifesto programmatico delle atmosfere dell'album. E la conferma arriva poco dopo, nelle pieghe ...

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Album Review

Petra Haden/Bill Frisell: Petra Haden and Bill Frisell

Read "Petra Haden and Bill Frisell" reviewed by John Kelman


Working with singers is nothing new to the ubiquitous and stylistically impossible-to-pigeonhole guitarist Bill Frisell. But whereas his '95 collaboration with Elvis Costello, Deep Dead Blue , was a live recording, stark in its simple meeting of one voice and one guitar, Frisell's latest teaming with Petra Haden, daughter of legendary bassist Charlie, and singer/violinist for that dog, is an altogether more produced affair. Petra Haden and Bill Frisell finds both Frisell and Haden building layer upon layer of sound, ...

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Album Review

Petra Haden and Bill Frisell: Petra Haden and Bill Frisell

Read "Petra Haden and Bill Frisell" reviewed by Mark Sabbatini


Opinions about the self-titled Petra Haden and Bill Frisell will likely depend on whether the latter gives listeners the Willies or they find the guitarist Unspeakable. Those attracted by his mellow heartland meditations on The Willies (Nonesuch, 2002) will likely enjoy it; those shunning it in favor of his eclectic modernism on Unspeakable (Nonesuch, 2004) may find it too tame. This assumes, of course, that there's also an interest in hearing the frilly vocals of Petra Haden.

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Performance / Tour

Miss Murgatroid and Petra Haden:hearts and Daggers

Miss Murgatroid and Petra Haden:hearts and Daggers

Source: JamBase

By: Dennis Cook

Haden & Murgatroid whip up quite the flutter & wow on Hearts & Daggers (File Under: Music). That they do so using accordion, violin, viola and exquisite, frequently wordless human voices is quite the feat, made all the more impressive considering one never notices these seeming limitations - a trait both ladies have shown throughout their career, taking misunderstood or maligned elements and making them twinkle with fresh light. Dancing on lithe, classically trained toes, wearing threadbare ...

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