Search results
Mar 25, 2016 · Baker's legacy may be debated, but his artistry shouldn't be. On the eve of a new biopic starring Ethan Hawke, here's an introduction to the trumpeter and vocalist.
- 5 min
- Jackson Sinnenberg
Feb 5, 2024 · Throughout his career his best playing was considered, genuinely improvised and truly melodic. As a talent and cultural icon, critic Dave Gelly memorably likened him to “James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one”. 10 of the most famous Chet Baker songs. You Don’t Know What Love Is; My Funny Valentine; Everytime We Say Goodbye; How ...
- Early Years
- Finding Fame
- Going Solo
- Personal Troubles
- Later Resurgence
- Lasting Legacy
Let’s rewind. Born Chesney Henry Baker, on December 23, 1929, in Yale, Oklahoma, Baker was drawn to music at a young age, aided by the fact that he was born into a musical family (his father had once been a professional guitarist and his mother played piano). A Jack Teagarden fan, his dad bought 14-year-old “Chetty” (as his mum called him) a trombo...
Baker’s big breakthrough was joining baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s quartet in 1952 – an outfit deemed revolutionary at the time because it had no pianist. The unorthodox set up allowed its two horn players more harmonic freedom, however, and prompted them to play intertwining contrapuntal melodies. The group’s gigs attracted huge interest, ...
Baker went solo when Mulligan was incarcerated for narcotics offenses, and quickly made his mark as a vocalist as well as trumpeter, releasing Chet Baker Sings in 1954. His mellow voice possessed a languorous, dreamy quality, and it helped to further his appeal with the wider public. He recorded a slew of albums for Pacific Jazz – among them 1957’s...
But being a jazz musician had its perils and, by this time, hard drugs began to play a major part in the trumpeter’s life. Like many jazz musicians from that period, Chet Baker had been seduced by narcotics, perhaps believing that drugs could aid his creativity. Instead, though, they started to wreck his life. Baker left the US for Europe in the la...
In the 70s, Baker started rebuilding his career. A move to New York saw him recording again, joining the roster at producer Creed Taylor’s influential CTI label, and reuniting with Gerry Mulligan. But tastes were changing in the 70s, with bebop and straight-ahead jazz being eclipsed by the more popular fusion and jazz-rock. By the end of the decade...
Since then, interest in Baker’s life and music has never diminished. He’s been the subject of two films – 2015’s Born To Be Blue, in which Ethan Hawke played Baker; and Bruce Weber’s 1988 documentary, Let’s Get Lost – and had several books written about him, including James Gavin’s revelatory, warts’n’all biography, Deep in a Dream: The Long Night ...
- Charles Waring
- 50
- 3 min
Dec 30, 2022 · He made its sequel, Chet Baker Sings and Plays, in 1955. That record became central to the definition of West Coast cool jazz. Some of the tracks feature Baker’s quartet – Russ Freeman on piano, Bob Neel on drums, and Carson Smith on bass – while others use string arrangements.
Chesney Henry ‘Chet’ Baker played trumpet and flugelhorn and sang. He suffered from being acclaimed the ‘great white hope’ of jazz at only 23, a burden from which he never recovered. Although he led his own quartet, he was not a born leader and seldom asserted his authority.
Dec 23, 2023 · Chet Baker's elegant style and rhythmic grace on the trumpet, as well as his fragile singing voice, made him a jazz celebrity.
People also ask
What is Baker's playing style?
What made Chet Baker a jazz celebrity?
Why did Chet Baker sing?
What songs does Chet Baker sing?
Did Chet Baker make a 'West Coast cool jazz' record?
Did Chet Baker sing my Funny Valentine?
Feb 5, 2024 · Despite a career that was full of ups and downs – including a long period of inactivity thanks to spells in prison and injured – the songs we’ve highlighted here helped establish Chet Baker as one of the most famous jazz musicians of his generation, and an influential for singers and jazz trumpeters of future generations. My Funny Valentine.
