Charlie Haden, The Best of Quartet West

Quartet West (who play the opening night of the London jazz festival on November 16) was founded in 1985, a late arrival for the gifted former Ornette Coleman bassist Charlie Haden as a bandleader. Free-jazz improviser Haden was making a lyrical return trip into his jazz and classical past, and his childhood appearances on his family's radio show. The moody film noir LA of The Big Sleep (Haden watches it once a month) is rarely far off, particularly in Ernie Watts' smoky tenor sound, and the music comes from Quartet West albums, including In Angel City, Haunted Heart, Always Say Goodbye and The Art of the Song. The more overtly nostalgic material, including the Radio Days and Stafford references, take nostalgia to a risky irony-free edge. But a slow-burning Body and Soul (with the late drummer Billy Higgins, and a voluptuous Haden bass intro), an ecstatic dance for violinist Stephane Grappelli around Watts' sax, and singer Shirley Horn's velvety whisper on Lonely Town catch the haunting essence of this unusual band.