Like such recent Verve by Request vinyl releases as Kai Winding’s Modern Country (1964) and Stan Getz’s Marrakesh Express (1969), Chet Baker’s Blood, Chet and Tears is a bit of a stumper. None of these shameless crossover efforts sit well in the artists’ otherwise more jazz-oriented catalogs. Likewise, they’re neither classics nor widely sought after…
“Let’s Get Lost” (1989)
Pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, in his liner notes to the Let’s Get Lost soundtrack, wrote that “many people would agree that [Chet Baker] played a very important role in their love life.” This suggests not only that Baker’s romantic brand of jazz could serve as the soundtrack to falling in or out of love…
Chet Baker Sextet – “Chet is Back!” (1962)
This may very well be one of trumpeter Chet Baker’s best and most under-appreciated jazz records. If the trumpeter never made a “great” record – whatever anyone’s personal favorite may be – this is as close as he came to making a memorable or worthy one. But it feels a little removed from time. The…
“Fair Weather” – Herbie Hancock with Chet Baker (1986)
On a summer day in 1985, trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker walked in to a Paris studio to record one song, “Fair Weather,” for the soundtrack to French director Bertrand Tavernier’s (1941-2021) film ‘Round Midnight. Other musicians on the date included pianist Herbie Hancock, the film’s musical supervisor, bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Billy Higgins.…
Update: “Far Away” – Astrud Gilberto & Chet Baker (1977)
Today, the 2025 Record Store Day release of Astrud Gilberto’s little-known 1977 album That Girl from Ipanema has prompted me to repost the following piece. “Far Away,” a duet with trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, is one of the album’s most significant highlights and the only time these two artists ever recorded together. To this post, I…
Chet Baker Takes It Easy: The Mariachi Brass and Carmel Strings Records (1966-67)
By the mid sixties, trumpeter Chet Baker (1929-88) was known – amazingly, for the time – as much for his music as he was for his drug use. As the literal – and figurative – poster boy for West Coast Jazz and West Coast “cool” in the early fifties, the-previously beautiful, beatific and Beatnik-ish Baker’s…