Chet

Chet Baker. Nothing else need be said.

This is a must have if you love that smokey, jazzy, dark bar kind of feel. Baker's playing is superb and understated.

Chet Baker has become one of my favorite trumpeters. His trumpet playing is lyrical, but on many other albums he has proven himself a quite capable technician on his instrument. Anyone who doubts his technical ability should check out his quartets with saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and pianist Russ Freeman. He was a master of playing playing, which is what this 1959 recording consists of. Every single track is rendered beautifully by the space given in Chet's lines. Chet is joined by some of the best jazz musicians at that time: Bill Evans, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay, and Philly Joe Jones. Anyone looking for some swing will have to look elsewhere. This album is nothing but ballads. I highly recommend this recording to anyone who is a potential fan of Chet's and for anyone interested in collecting Bill Evans session work, which he didn't do much of at all during his career.

Chet Baker is to die for. This jazz fan didn't know about him til the recent movie, which is a must see.I don't know whether this is the best possible of his available CDs, but it's good enough. He doesstandards with a sweet, sometimes lonely sound. (He was probably deeply lonely, since he choseheroin as his favorite companion.) I love listening to it over dinner.

If you like the music of Chet Baker, buy this. The members include Kenny Burrell and Bill Evans : )LP would sound better if you have a very good stereo system.

I've seen this album before, but I decided to buy my own copy. This was a very good transfer to CD format, and I enjoyed listening to it late at night when I am relaxing at the end of the day.I love the notes from Keepnews, who had known Chet and who produced this album. The list of the other musicians who performed on this album is astounding. I believe this to be an excellent album to start exploring Chet's recordings.

The session sounds like it was recorded in two rooms. The frontline of Baker, Pepper Adams, and Herbie Mann are well recorded while the rhythm section is usually in the distance. You have to strain to hear the comping and most of the solos of Bill Evans and Kenny Burrell. With the likes of Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones (or Connie Kay) on bass and drums why is the mix so unbalanced? The high point of the recording is the generous solo time allotted to Adams which is a treat. Good Baker, but he's not pushing much, a whiff of easy listening jazz is in the air. Wish I could hear Evans, Burrell, and Jones/Kay better. A big disappointment. I'll probably give this one to the local library.

This is a fantastic CD just for the music. What makes it interesting is the history, the endnotes, the "behind the scenes" thoughts of Mr. Keepnews. Baker's life is a tragedy. To hear the frustration at witnessing this first hand made me appreciate the music that much more. If you are a Baker fan and don't have this CD, you are no Baker fan. I am no jazz elitist at all, but this is beautiful music for driving, for Saturday night and again for Sunday morning.