Having been through the most daunting and destructive problems and inactive in music, Chet Baker got himself together personally and musically in 1973 and went to New York for a comeback. The comeback had its ups and downs, but there were periods when the trumpeter's work equaled or surpassed the playing of his poll-winning years in the 1950s. Once Upon a Summertime is from one of those periods. With the powerful young tenor saxophonist Gregory Herbert, pianist Harold Danko, and the perfectly-matched bass/drums team of Ron Carter and Mel Lewis, Baker regained his old lyricism and added a sinewy bebop strength that came as a welcome surprise to many listeners.

Tidal Breeze, Shifting Down, ESP, The Song Is You, Once Upon a Summertime (La Valse Des Lilas)

with Gregory Herbert, Harold Danko, Ron Carter, Mel Lewis