NEW RELEASES : ‘Haunted Heart’: Charlie Haden’s Off-Base Concept

CHARLIE HADEN “Haunted Heart”

Verve * * * Haden’s notes tell us that this CD was conceived “as if it were a film telling a story.” This may be very clear in Haden’s mind, but to some listeners the narrative and continuity will be puzzling. A series of tracks by the quartet--Haden, bass; Ernie Watts, saxes; Alan Broadbent, piano; Larance Marable, drums--is surrounded, or interrupted, by everything from an old Max Steiner film fanfare to vocals by Jo Stafford, Jeri Southern and Billie Holiday.

The quartet numbers jump from boppish pieces by Bud Powell and Lennie Tristano to originals by Haden and Broadbent and even variations on Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade.” Better disregard the Haden Memory Vault premise and fast-forward your way to the best of the quartet. Still, and happily, Holiday’s “Deep Song” is the evocative finale.