Come Sunday

iTunes Review Humbleness is the first word that comes to mind to describe Charlie Haden and the late Hank Jones’ Come Sunday, a moving set of hymns and spirituals. (In 1995 the pair recorded Steal Away, an album featuring similar material.) These jazz giants are capable of doing all sorts of things, but here they're simple and direct: some of these interpretations are so unadorned that they don’t quite register as jazz. It’s hard to think of another bassist who could pull this off as well as Haden, a player who's always been able to wring great warmth and feeling from a single tone. Jones was a master at playing in this spare mode, and his touch here is remarkably sensitive. When Haden plays the well-worn melody of “Bringing in the Sheaves,” it practically brings a tear to your eye. “Give Me That Old Time Religion” has a middle section that swings wonderfully, while a quiet “Nearer My God to Thee” sounds truly devout. The lushest track is Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” and there’s a nice arrangement of “Going Home” by Anton Dvořák, a composer with an appreciation for the traditional music that Haden and Jones perform here. .