Tonight I got a bit homesick for L.A.. Not for the L.A. I remember but for the L.A. that predates me. For the L. A. of Raymond Chandler and those 1940's and 1950's film noir movies. The images and music is so powerful they create the sensation of nostalgia for a time and place you never lived in.
I was sitting at my desk working on a project which would not allow me to watch video. So I fired up iTunes and clicked on the two albums above by Charlie Haden & Quartet West. With these two albums Haden successfully evokes the music and feel of Los Angeles from those post war days. If you like Los Angeles film noir movies I think these albums will take you on an aural trip through those times. If you like more modern noir style movies such as L.A. Confidential and Chinatown I bet you will enjoy these.
I used to drive through the Hollywood Hills at night with these albums playing in my car. If it was late and beginning to rain I would throw on some clothes and drive the canyons to the top of Mulholland Drive. Some of us take our music and atmosphere seriously.
Before I left L.A. I visited Tower Records on Sunset. I bought two CD's, the first was Joe South's Greatest Hits and the other was another excellent film noir style album by Bob Belden called Black Dahlia. Granted it's a walk on the darker side of L.A. but the music is just as powerful as the Haden albums in evoking that post war period.
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