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Essence Of Romance
28 OCT 09 CHRIS SLAWECKI
No other trumpet player -- except for possibly Miles Davis -- could get lost in a ballad, and magnetically pull you in to get lost with him, like Chet Baker. Even better, Baker was double trouble, a trumpet player and a vocalist who could croon and caress ballads in a reed-like voice so soft that it nearly screamed. The new OJC collection Essential Standards presents a great opportunity to discover both.
Even if he'd never played another note, Baker's verses to "My Funny Valentine," in harmony with Gerry Mulligan's breathless sax, would still remain graceful yet poignant, eternally -- welcome to the most perfectly beautiful, time-stopping three minutes of your musical life.
The pensive melancholy of Baker's world-weary vocal on "Angel Eyes" is like a spider web, gossamer-thin yet quite strong and sticky, while his recitation of misfortune in "Everything Happens To Me" sounds so forlornly defeated that it's almost comical. In a brighter mood, Baker's flugelhorn gracefully glides through the opening "Have You Met Miss Jones," and drummer Philly Joe Jones' tap dance pulls the Latin rhythms out from Kenny Drew's piano accompaniment to "Old Devil Moon."
The Concord catalog includes many other titles from which you can luxuriously wrap yourself in Baker's stylish and heady moody brooding, most notably Chet Baker Plays For Lovers (Riverside), The Art Of The Ballad (Prestige) and Quintessence Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Concord Jazz), in The Stan Getz Quartet.
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My Funny Valentine
Chet Baker, from Essential Standards
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Nobody Else But Me
Gerry Mulligan, from The Art Of Gerry ...
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Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Philly Joe Jones, from Drum Songs
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Ruby, My Dear
Kenny Drew, from Trio / Quartet / Quintet
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Autumn In New York
Chet Baker, from The Art Of The Ballad
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I'm Old Fashioned
Chet Baker, from Chet Baker Plays For ...
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My Ideal
The Stan Getz Quartet with Chet Baker ...
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We'll Be Together Again
The Stan Getz Quartet with Chet Baker ...
in this playlist.
