The music of the Charlie Haden Quartet West was born from an almost pathological nostalgic sentiment for Los Angeles as it was in the first decade after World War II. This makes Humphrey Bogart almost as big an influence on the Quartet West as the jazz gods of the era. Bassist Charlie Haden, leader and spiritual father of this unique quartet, came to Los Angeles at the end of the fifties. He was one of the musicians that put a definitive stop to bebop as an innovative movement. Haden accomplished this by taking part in the quartet of free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman. Yet he kept aching for the spirit of the forties and fifties. With the Quartet West he succeeded in giving musical shape to this spirit. Saxophonist Ernie Watts plays with a lot of feeling and pianist Alan Broadbent creates warbling improvisations, while Charlie Haden himself, accompanied by drummer Rodney Green, with his no-nonsense playing, makes sure that the music never becomes overly sentimental.
