American Dreams
In recent years, Charlie Haden has steadily released duo albums (withPat Metheny,Kenny Barron, and others) or worked with the sentimental-sounding Quartet West, which uses lush orchestration to supplement the quartet's sound. Haden has upgraded his quartet here onAmerican Dreams, using the all-star cast ofMichael Brecker,Brian Blade, andBrad Mehldau, but again brings in the orchestra for nearly every track. This "Quartet East" takes on a few Haden originals, as well as tunes by past collaboratorsKeith JarrettandOrnette Coleman, and mixes them up with popular songs such as the theme from the filmTootsieand even the patriotic "America the Beautiful." Some of the non-jazz tunes are a bit sappy, but they do right by "America" thanks to an outstanding solo by Haden and just the right amount of orchestral support.American Dreamsis probably too mainstream and glossy for fans of Haden's challenging early work, but there are a few nice moments amidst the glitter.--Tad Hendrickson