Deep in the Blues is a fascinating jam session between James Cotton, guitarist Joe Louis Walker, and jazz bassist Charlie Haden. The trio runs through a number of classic blues songs written by Muddy Waters, Percy Mayfield, and Sonny Boy Williamson and a few originals by Walker and Cotton. The sound is intimate and raw, which is a welcome change from Cotton's usual overproduced records.

It would seem a strange thing compiling the work of Charlie Haden's decade-long Quartet West Group onto a single disc. The reason isn't that they recorded so much material, but more because the material was themed record by record. Yet that is exactly why a compilation like this does work, because this group played music utilizing different aspects of the same theme: to evoke the spirits, ghosts and sprites of a Los Angeles that has moved off the screen of real life into the stuff of myth. That Haden and his group, which included drummer Larance Marable (who replaced Billy Higgins after the group's first, self-titled album in 1986), saxophonist Ernie Watts, and pianist Alan Broadbent could make it all sound so present and real, gives the impression that there was truth in the images. This is not only from a West Coast point of view (though there it is imbued more with the striking visual reveries to accompany the tunes) but also in the popular culture mythos in the collective American mind.

This is number four in the series chronicling the week of concerts with different line-ups the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal devoted to the great bassist in 1989.

Treasure Island, released in early 1974, was the second of two albums pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded for Impulse Records – the first was Fort Yawuh, issued a year earlier. Cut at Generation Sound Studios in New York City, the band consisted of Jarrett on piano and soprano saxophone, Dewey Redman on tenor, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Paul Motian. And though he would more than likely disagree, this was the best band he ever led. In addition to the quartet, guitarist Sam Brown contributes to a pair of cuts here as Guilherme Franco and Danny Johnson add percussion to the mix. The set kicks off with the beautiful "The Rich (And the Poor)," a folkish melody of the type Jarrett was exploring on ECM at the time, with some stellar African undertones – it's easy to hear the majesty of Abdullah Ibrahim's South African musical sphere in this mix, and earthy deep, sparer work by Redman and Haden.

This album gives one an interesting look at the early Keith Jarrett, who was already performing on an album of the Charles Lloyd Quartet and Miles Davis' early fusion band. He had not yet fully developed his style, but he was clearly on his way. These trio performances (with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian) are impressive for the period, but the best was yet to come.

While still a member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, Keith Jarrett did some occasional moonlighting with a trio, anchored by two future members of Jarrett's classic quartet, Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motian (drums). On this CD, Jarrett turns in a very eclectic set at Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, careening through a variety of idioms where his emerging individuality comes through in flashes. He covers Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" – which actually came out as a single on the Vortex label – in an attractive, semi-funky style reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi. "Pretty Ballad" delivers a strong reflective dose of Bill Evans, while "Moving Soon" is chaotic free jazz. By the time we reach "New Rag," we begin to hear the distinctive Jarrett idiom of the later trios, but then, "Old Rag" is knockabout stride without the stride. As an example of early, unfocused Jarrett, this is fascinating material.

Jarrett's 1970s albums may have confused some purists but they should be a goldmine for contemporary fans of all stripes who like improvised music. El Juicio is an excellent early Jarrett album and finds him in typically eclectic form with his classic American quartet. I nominate the opener, "Gypsy Moth," as the best piece on the record. Sounding a little like a more confident version of "Lisbon Stomp," from Jarrett's 1967 debut album Life Between the Exit Signs, Jarrett first whips up a rollicking theme on the piano and then switches to soprano sax towards the end, the rhythm section swinging hard throughout.

With saxophonist Jan Garbarek and bassist Charlie Haden along for the ride, Keith Jarrett indulges in three slow, rambling, meditative, vaguely neo-classical concertos for piano and string orchestra. While a few of Jarrett's and Garbarek's passages here and there have a syncopated jazz feeling, this is mostly contemporary classical music, perhaps even somewhat ahead of its time (it might fit in with the neo-Romantic and minimalist camps today). However, although this music can be attractive in small doses, the lack of tempo or texture contrasts over long stretches of time – particularly the nearly 28-minute "Mirrors" – can be annoying if you're not in the right blissful mood. Mladen Gutesha and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra perform the string parts with what can only be described as commendable patience.

This recorded, intimate document was recorded at Jazz Beat during the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1990 and sees its first official release on this Impulse! volume. Bassist Charlie Haden and guitarist Jim Hall played a number of duet concerts together over the years, but this was certainly among the very earliest. Given their respective careers up to this point, both men had nearly perfected the artistry of playing in this particular chamber jazz setting. That all said, it does not prepare the listener for the canny, intimate, yet absolutely electric interplay on offer here. From readings of standards such as "Bemsha Swing," "Body and Soul," and Skylark" through to Ornette Coleman's "Turnaround" and excellent originals by both men - including Haden's bookends, the tenderly dissonant "First Song" and the knotty "In the Moment," and Hall's sprightly melodic Latin waltz "Down from Antigua"…

This 1982 studio recording of Chet Baker was not released until Stash Records issued it in 1994 (the album has been out of circulation for several years). It's a very high quality production of Baker with an unusual lineup of fine sidemen: Kenny Barron on piano, Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, Howard Johnson on tuba and James Newton on flute. The six tracks (total running time of 40:59) include vocals on the title song and Miles Davis' "Four." Of special note is the song "Lament," which shows off one of Baker's rightfully admired ballad performances. "But Not For Me" is the first of a series of Stash Records reissues licensed by Random Chance Records that will be coming out over the next few years.

Song X is a collaborative studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It is a free jazz record that was produced in a three-day recording session in 1985. The album features mutual Metheny/Coleman collaborator Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Coleman's son Denardo on various percussion instruments. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York City between December 12 and December 14, 1985. A remixed and remastered version was issued on CD in August 2005, titled Song X: Twentieth Anniversary. Six unreleased tracks were added prior to the original eight songs. In The Penguin Guide to Jazz (2004), Richard Cook and Brian Morton said the more adventurous recordings on Song X showcased the jubilant playing between Coleman and Metheny, who not only "powered his way through Coleman's itinerary with utter conviction, he set up opportunities for the saxophonist to resolve and created a fusion with which Coleman's often impenetrable Prime Time bands had failed to come to terms." In a review of the album's 2005 reissue, Christgau wrote in Blender that all six bonus tracks were "strong enough to justify kicking off with them, and the perfect warm-up to an album Metheny was right to construct exactly as he did."

Dream Keeper is a jazz album by bassist Charlie Haden that was recorded in 1990 and released by Blue Note Records. The album was nominated for a Grammy award and was voted "Jazz album of the year" in Down Beat magazine's 1991 critic's poll. Haden, Carla Bley and Ray Anderson also placed first in that year's Acoustic Bass, Composer and Trombone poll categories, respectively. The album is the third studio recording by Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the follow-up to their 1983 The Ballad of the Fallen.

Although one would not immediately associate bassist Charlie Haden with pianist Hampton Hawes, they had performed together on an occasional basis since first meeting in 1957. This Artists House LP, a set of five duets, was their last opportunity to play together because Hawes would pass away the following year. The music includes a fairly free improvisation on "Hello/ Goodbye," the duo's intepretation of the title cut, a collaboration on "This Is Called Love" and two originals from the pianist. This quiet and often lyrical set contains a great deal of thoughtful and subtle music by two masters.

Liberation Music Orchestra is the 1969 album by Charlie Haden, who brings in his friends to help, including Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Carla Bley, Paul Motian and Dewey Redman among them. This edtion was released by Impulse on 26 March, 1996, remastered by Erick Labson

You Gotta Pay The Band is the 1991 album by American jazz singer Abbey Lincoln, who is helped by Stan Getz with help from Hank Jones, Charlie Haden, Mark Johnson and Maxine Roach. Originally released in France by Gitanes Jazz, this is the U.S. pressing released by Verve.