Haunted Heart

Bassist Charlie Haden was already an avant-garde titan through his role in Ornette Coleman's empire-rattling '60s quartet, an avatar for politically-committed jazz through his Liberation Music Orchestra, and a first-call star thanks to associations with Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, and countless other pathfinders. But Haden was, and is, an omnivorous listener and fan with an openly romantic vein, and this sophomore project for his own mainstream quartet celebrates his love of classic pop and film noir. Opening with the Warner Bros. fanfare that introduced John Huston's classic 1941 realization of The Maltese Falcon, this programmatic gem shifts from '40s covers to sympathetic originals evoking the smoky demimonde of noir classics, and underlined by their allusive titles ("Hello My Lovely," "Lady in the Lake," and "The Long Goodbye" are the obvious Chandlerian connections). Interpolating luminous vocal recordings from the '40s by Jo Stafford (the title song), Jeri Southern, and Billie Holiday, Haunted Heart is cinematic in the best sense, its elegant acoustic jazz looking affectionately back across the decades, yet still in the moment emotionally. --Sam Sutherland