Find great deals on eBay for chet baker rare. Shop with confidence. Skip to main content. Rare The Best Of Chet Baker Sings And Plays NEW Jazz Forever cd4542 See more like this. RARE NEW SEALED ABSOLUTE BRASS CHET BAKER JAZZ CD 2001 CTI S1001 JZ47. Chet Baker was a primary exponent of the West Coast school of cool jazz in the early and mid-'50s. As a trumpeter, he had a generally restrained, intimate playing style and he attracted attention beyond jazz for his photogenic looks and singing.
Chet Baker in 1983 Background information Birth name Chesney Henry Baker Born ( 1929-12-23)December 23, 1929, United States Died May 13, 1988 (1988-05-13) (aged 58), Netherlands Genres, Occupation(s) Musician, singer Instruments Trumpet, vocals, piano Years active 1949–88 Labels, Associated acts, Chesney Henry Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American trumpeter and vocalist.
Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (, ). Jazz historian described the promise of Baker's early career as ', and, rolled into one.' His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s. Contents.
Biography Early years Baker was born and raised in a musical household in, Oklahoma. His father, Chesney Baker Sr., was a professional guitarist, and his mother, Vera Moser, was a pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother was Norwegian. Baker said that due to the Great Depression, his father, though talented, had to quit as a musician and take a regular job. Baker began his musical career singing in a church choir. His father gave him a trombone, which was replaced with a trumpet when the trombone proved too large.
His mother said that he had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was given an instrument. After 'falling in love' with the trumpet, he improved noticeably in two weeks. Peers called Baker a natural musician to whom playing came effortlessly.
Baker received some musical education at Glendale Junior High School, but he left school at the age of 16 in 1946 to join the. He was assigned to Berlin, Germany, where he joined the 298th Army band. After leaving the Army in 1948, he studied music theory and harmony at in Los Angeles. He dropped out during his second year to re-enlist. He became a member of the Sixth Army Band at the in San Francisco, spending time in clubs such as and the. He was discharged from the Army in 1951 and proceeded to pursue a career in music.
Career Baker performed with and before being chosen by for a series of West Coast engagements. In 1952, Baker joined the Quartet. Rather than playing identical melody lines in unison like Parker and, Baker and Mulligan complemented each other with counterpoint and anticipating what the other would play next. ', with a solo by Baker, became a hit and would be associated with Baker for the rest of his career. With the Quartet, Baker was a regular performer at Los Angeles jazz clubs such as and the.
Within a year, Mulligan was arrested and imprisoned on drug charges. Baker formed a quartet with a rotation that included pianist, bassists, and Jimmy Bond, and drummers, Bob Neel,. Baker's quartet released popular albums between 1953 and 1956. Baker won reader's polls at and magazine, beating trumpeters Miles Davis and Clifford Brown.
In 1954, readers named Baker the top jazz vocalist. In 1956, released, an album that increased his visibility and drew criticism. Nevertheless, Baker sang throughout the rest of his career.
Hollywood studios saw an opportunity in Baker's chiseled features. He made his acting debut in the film, released in the fall of 1955. He declined a studio contract, preferring life on the road as a musician. Over the next few years, Baker led his own combos, including a 1955 quintet with, where Baker combined playing trumpet and singing. In 1956 he completed an eight-month tour of Europe, where he recorded Chet Baker in Europe.
In late 1959 he returned to Europe, recording in Italy what would become known as the Milano Sessions with arranger and conductor (aka Len Mercer) and his orchestra. Baker was arrested for drug possession and jailed in Pisa, forcing Leoni to communicate through the prison warden to coordinate arrangements with Baker as they prepared for recording. Drug addiction and decline Baker often said he began using heroin in 1957.
Author Jeroen de Valk and pianist Russ Freeman say that Baker started heroin in the early 1950s. Freeman was Baker's musical director after Baker left the Mulligan quartet. Sometimes Baker pawned his instruments to buy drugs. During the 1960s, he was imprisoned in Italy on drug charges and was expelled from Germany and the UK on drug-related offences. He was deported to the U.S. From Germany for getting into trouble with the law a second time.
He settled in, California, performing in San Francisco and San Jose between jail terms for prescription fraud. In 1966, Baker was beaten, allegedly while attempting to buy drugs, after performing at in Sausalito. In the film, Baker said an acquaintance attempted to rob him but backed off, only to return the next night with a group of men who chased him.
He entered a car and became surrounded. Instead of rescuing him, the people inside the car pushed him back out onto the street, where the chase continued.
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He received cuts and some of his teeth were knocked out, ruining his and leaving him unable to play trumpet. He worked at a gas station until concluding that he had to find a way back to music. During most of the 1960s, Baker played and recorded music that could be classified as West Coast jazz. Comeback. Chet Baker (right) and, 1983 After developing a new embouchure resulting from dentures, Baker returned to the straight-ahead jazz that began his career.
He moved to New York City and began performing and recording again, including with guitarist. Later in the 1970s, Baker returned to Europe, where he was assisted by his friend Diane Vavra, who took care of his personal needs and helped him during his recording and performance dates. From 1978 until his death in 1988, Baker lived and played almost exclusively in Europe, returning to the U.S. Once a year for a few performances. This was Baker's most prolific era as a recording artist.
In 1983, British singer, a longtime fan of Baker, hired the trumpeter to play a solo on his song ' for the album. The song exposed Baker's music to a new audience. Later, Baker often featured Costello's song ' (inspired by Baker's version of ') in his concert sets, and recorded the song for Let's Get Lost. In 1986, Chet Baker: Live at Ronnie Scott's London presents Baker in an intimate stage performance filmed with Elvis Costello and as he performs a set of standards and classics, including 'Just Friends', 'My Ideal', and 'Shifting Down'. Augmenting the music, Baker speaks one-on-one with friend and colleague Costello about his childhood, career, and struggle with drugs. Baker recorded the live album Chet Baker in Tokyo with his quartet featuring pianist, bassist and drummer less than a year before his death, and it was released posthumously. Silent Nights, a recording of Christmas music, was recorded with Christopher Mason in New Orleans in 1986 and released in 1987.
Compositions Baker's compositions included ', ', 'Early Morning Mood', 'Two a Day', ' ('I Know I Will Lose You'), ' ('My Tomorrow'), ' ('Contemplate on a Moonbeam'), 'The Route', 'Skidaddlin', 'New Morning Blues', 'Blue Gilles', 'Dessert', 'Anticipated Blues', 'Blues for a Reason', 'We Know It's Love', and 'Looking Good Tonight'. Jazz Discography Project. Archived from on 2017-05-14. Retrieved December 18, 2013. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Retrieved 13 November 2015. Gelly, Dave (2000).
Icons of Jazz: A History in Photographs, 1900–2000 (North American ed.). San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press. Leland, John (5 October 2004), HarperCollins, pp. 265–, retrieved 13 November 2015. Gavin, James (2011).
Deep In A Dream: The Long Night Of Chet Baker. Chicago Review Press.
^ (1988) documentary by. ^. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
McKeever, Stuart A. (19 June 2014). Author House. Retrieved 25 April 2018. Cahill, Greg.
North Bay Bohemian. Retrieved 2017-04-08. Gordon, Robert (1986). Jazz West Coast: the Los Angeles jazz scene of the 1950s.
Quartet Books. Davis Inman. American Songwriter. Retrieved January 21, 2015. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 86– 10 November 1956. Retrieved 13 November 2015. Chet Baker - 1959 Milano Sessions - Promo Sound, CD 4312 ADD.
Ted Gioia (1998). University of California Press. (in Italian).
Retrieved 12 February 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
Pareles, Jon (May 14, 1988). Retrieved March 25, 2016. Europa (March 21, 2014). Janela ou Corredor?
(in Portuguese). Retrieved March 10, 2015. Crew, Robert (April 6, 2001).
Retrieved November 13, 2015. Landazuri, Margarita. Turner Classic Movies. MTV Movies Blog.
January 31, 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2013. Don Heckman (September 25, 1991). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 25, 2016.write a song with the rich lyrical imagery of 'Chet Baker's Unsung Love Song,'. Jeroendevalk.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved December 18, 2013.
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Barraclough, Leo (February 4, 2015). Retrieved November 13, 2015. Brown, Emma (March 20, 2012). Retrieved November 13, 2015. Collar, Matt. Retrieved May 10, 2016. Michael (May 23, 2013).
Retrieved May 10, 2016. Further reading. Baker, Chet; Carol Baker. As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir.
St Martins Press, 1997. De Valk, Jeroen. Chet Baker: His Life and Music. Berkeley Hills Books, 2000. Drastically updated and expanded edition: 'Chet Baker: His Life and Music'. Uitgeverij Aspekt, 2017. Gavin, James.
Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. New York: Alfred A. Ruddick, Matthew.
Funny Valentine: The Story of Chet Baker. Melrose Books, 2012. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. at. on.
at.,.
Chet Baker: 1929 – 1988 I’ve listened to Chet Baker for a long time. From the early stuff in Paris (1955, Barclay Records) to all the great Pacific Jazz recordings with Russ Freeman et al that helped define the “West Coast Sound”, so beautifully photographed and chronicled by the great William Claxton. These jazz classics have a display at the wonderful Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930-65, a must see exhibition now running at LACMA. I also read and interviewed James Gavin on his excellent biography, Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. It wasn’t really clear how Baker met his maker. He fell from an upper hotel balcony in Amsterdam in 1988 and died.
Questions come up immediately: Did he overdose? Was he pushed out by a dealer? Was it a drug deal gone bad? Did he commit suicide? Well actually, none of the above. Chet Baker enjoyed getting high, and got used to the hassle of scoring heroin. A great set of liner notes for his album Live in Tokyo has him and another junkie “nodding out together in a hotel kitchenette, having completed the necessary travail of scoring, cooking, and fixing.
The other musician asks Chet, “You ever get tired of this shit, man?” Chet answers, “Oh, you know it,” his voice slurred and his eyes closed tight. “The airports, the customs inspectors, the promoters, checking into the hotel and playing the gig” “No, man,” the other junkie says, slowing waving a hand to indicate the debris of the spoons, syringes, and glassine bags. “This shit!” Chet opens his eyes and looks at the other guy like he’s out of his mind. In the book Chet was depressed about breaking up yet again with a girlfriend, was getting on in years and the years of abuse were taking their toll. In the biography it’s not clear, however, that anybody knew exactly what happened. A few years ago, however, after my enjoyable KCRW interview with James Gavin, I got a call from a patron at Santa Monica’s now-deceased record store, Hear Music, and was told that he knew what happened. He was there in Amsterdam at the same hotel.
He said that Chet was chatting up a woman in the lobby, went upstairs to get some cigarettes or keys, and found he had locked himself out of his hotel room. The door to the room next door was open. He entered, went out onto the balcony and tried to get over to his own balcony. He lost his footing, fell and died.
The caller told me, “Ask Little Jimmy Scott, he was there at the hotel and remembers.” A few months later I was sitting next to Little Jimmy Scott at The Water Court at Calfornia Plaza. It was the night after he’d performed there at the wonderful (and always free) Grand Performances series. I asked him about Chet. He said yes, he was there at the hotel, and was hanging out in the lobby with Chet when he went upstairs but never came back. Scott corroborated every detail the caller told me about Chet’s accidental death. Chet Baker was a great trumpet and flugelhorn player. And even as time ravaged him physically, his playing actually got better as he aged.
Who knows how much longer he might have lived and continued playing had he not slipped and fallen, that fateful night at the Prins Hendrik Hotel?