Charlie Haden’s Quartet West Turns 25 (Part 2)

In the 25 years Charlie Haden has been recording with his stellar group Quartet West, the band has skillfully used vocals as an adjective to each thematic album comprised of a uniquely hand picked repertoire of instrumental tracks by Haden himself. In 2000, Quartet West released its first focused vocal album The Art of the Song which featured the brilliant singers Shirley Horn and Bill Henderson. On Quartet West’s most recent album, Sophisticated Ladies, the band splits its focus to six instrumental selections and six songs featuring a different vocalist per track. Included are guest vocalists Melody Gardot, Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Ruth Cameron, Renee Fleming and Diana Krall. I recently met up with Charlie Haden and his co-producer, partner and vocalist, Ruth Cameron to discuss Quartet West’s 25th Anniversary and the band’s albums The Art of the Song and Sophisticated Ladies and here’s what they had to say. – JV

Recommended:
The Art of the Song
Sophisticated Ladies
Charlie Haden Music
Charlie Haden’s Quartet West Turns 25
Jazz Backstage: Charlie Haden