Charlie Haden is the elemental poet of the acoustic bass. He plays as if each phrase of his musical statement were carefully chosen and then indelibly carved into stone. In his hands, the trills, pedal points and double-stops he so perfectly executes seem simple, and his enormous sound, feeling for dynamics and deep passion are beyond reproach. In short, he's a totally personal and consistently satisfying musician.

The Golden Number is Haden's second collection of duets with various long-term associates (the previous Closeness featured Ornette Coleman on alto sax, Alice Coltrane, Keith Jarrett and Paul Motian), and the current collaborators are as attuned to the bassist's purposes as were the prior ones. Once again, Coleman, Haden's primary mentor, best manages the musical fusion; his trumpet solo on "The Golden Number" is his most precise and lyrical on a horn with which he often sounds stubborn and crude. "Shepp's Way," which begins with a riveting Haden solo, also achieves great sweep, especially during the magnanimous beginning of Archie Shepp's tenor sax solo. Don Cherry's trumpet is both playfully strained and reverent on "Out of Focus," while the single non-Haden composition, Coleman's "Turnaround," features the late pianist Hampton Hawes in the relaxed but virile blues mood he helped to coin.

As with Closeness, The Golden Number's packaging and sound quality put most jazz releases to shame, and the sublime music demonstrates one way to play freely without leaving the audience behind. Charlie Haden and producer John Snyder are no longer with Horizon, so there may not be a third volume of duets. If so, it's too bad because this is one concept that has yet to exhaust itself. (RS 261)

BOB BLUMENTHAL