James Dean, in some circles, was the epitome of cool. His "live fast die young" rebelliousness was tangible to a generation coming of age, and remains so. Like Dean, trumpeter Chet Baker was also symbolic of cool. It made sense that the bittersweet trumpet of Baker would play a major role in the music to the documentary film The James Dean Story in 1956. What, unfortunately, makes this soundtrack less than attractive is the Hollywood-induced charts that tend to waste the quality of these musicians. It would be impossible to assemble jazz players including Pepper Adams, Bud Shank, Charlie Mariano, and Baker and not produce something worthwhile. However, composer Leith Stevens and arrangers Johnny Mandel and Bill Holman missed the mark by scoring much of this as background music. While Bud Shank manages to sneak in a few Bird-style licks, the stereotypical "Hollywood hipster" bongos of Mike Pacheco are prominent. "Let Me Be Loved" is the lone Baker vocal on this set, reissued in 2000. [The Japanese edition offers the same back cover artwork as the original LP, including a fascinating description of the creative process behind the album.]
Chet Baker lives! By taking lush string arrangements by Michel Hardy recorded after the trumpeter's death and incorporating them in what appear to be two separate quartets sessions led by Baker from 1986 to 1988, this CD is a loving tribute to an icon of 20th Century jazz. The recording of the strings is seamless, lovingly performed, and sounds as if it were recorded contemporaneously with the small groups. The ten tunes are mostly ones Baker performed before, including "Angel Eyes," "My Funny Valentine," "As Time Goes By," and "My Foolish Heart." Although Baker was not in the best of shape and has trouble with his vocalizing, his trumpet work is satisfactory and the sheer emotions produced are nearly awe-inspiring. While there is much better Baker available, this unique and creative approach to adding the strings posthumously is surprisingly attractive and opens endless possibilities. The rhythm sections, one of which includes drummer Ben Riley and pianist Harold Danko, blend smoothly and inconspicuously, permitting the focus to be Chet's singing and trumpeting. [The import edition adds "Alone Together"]
Having been reissued numerous times over the years under various titles, this Bluebird version of Chet Is Back! stands out as the definitive packaging of one of Chet Baker's best early-'60s recordings. Besides featuring the original artwork and liner notes -- as well as detailed new liner notes from James Gavin, author of Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker -- the real impetus to pick this up is the inclusion of four orchestral pop singles Baker recorded with Ennio Morricone around the same time as the album. Never before released in the U.S., these tracks were purportedly composed by the trumpeter/vocalist while serving jail time in Lucca, Italy after obtaining fake drug prescriptions. Interestingly, in an act of what would now be viewed as monumental "enabling," Pino Maffei, the court stenographer at Baker's trial, penned the lyrics. Oozing with a wistful, melodic romanticism, these four lost gems are essential listening for Baker fanatics. Singing -- in Italian no less -- and backed by Morricone's choir, string and horn arrangements that swell like a balmy ocean tide over light ballads and breezy mid-tempo swingers, this is Baker as Federico Fellini might have imagined him. The eight original tracks to the main album are also revelatory in that Baker -- usually pegged as a low-register "cool" player -- really cuts loose on such bop-oriented workouts as "Pent-up House" and "Well, You Needn't." Backed skillfully by a young cadre of up-and-coming European musicians, including the stellar saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, Baker may have never sounded better, including on the ballads. One listen to "Over the Rainbow" and it's clear this is an overlooked Baker classic.
The story of this reissue reads like a movie: Chet Baker, the James Dean-meets-Miles Davis trumpeter moved to Rome in 1962. He gets arrested for buying dope, learns Italian in jai...
At the time this music was released on Riverside, the six performances of blues by trumpeters had not been issued before. It was reissued on this album as part of the OJC series and since that time some of these selections have appeared as "bonus cuts" along with the other numbers recorded at the same sessions. However this album is worth getting, for it has excellent performances by Clark Terry (who uses pianist Thelonious Monk as one of his sidemen on "Fluegelin' the Blues"), Blue Mitchell, Nat Adderley, Kenny Dorham and two by Chet Baker.
Chet Baker (trumpet) was arguably at the peak of his prowess when captured in a quartet setting at the Masonic Temple in Ann Arbor, MI, May 9, 1954. He's joined by Russ Freeman (piano), Carson Smith (bass) and Bob Neel (drums), all of whom provide ample assistance without ever obscuring their leader's laid-back and refined style. Baker's sublime sounds also garnered notice from critics, who had placed him atop polls in both Metronome and Down Beat magazines the previous year. Evidence of these lauds are obvious upon listening to the combo as they nestle into one of the cornerstones in their repertoire, the suave "Line for Lyons" -- a track dating back to the artist's short-lived yet genre defining work with the song's author, Gerry Mulligan. Almost immediately after establishing the melodic theme, Baker dives into his trademark solos. The fluidity throughout the seemingly off-the-cuff excursions presents confirmation of both his unquestionable timing and understated subtle authority. The rhythm section ably follows the improvisations with solid, yet never overpowering support. Freeman also shines throughout, especially during the stately opening to "Lover Man" or the up-tempo jiving "Maid in Mexico." Other classics include the stark intimacy of Baker's signature "My Funny Valentine," as well as respectively frisky renditions of "Stella by Starlight" and Freeman's own crowd-pleasing "Russ Job." In 2000, these eight cuts were coupled with five additional previously unreleased sides from the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles circa August of 1953. The results were Quartet Live, Vol. 1: This Time the Dream's on Me (2000), the first of three archival volumes featuring Baker during his initial reign as the poster child for West coast cool jazz. [The 2007 Jazz Beat reissue included bonus tracks.]
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