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"HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS"
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a r t i s t : Chet Baker
t i t l e : Prince of Cool The Pacific Jazz Years 1952-1957
d a t e : 2004
l a b e l : EMI 7243 5 94655 2 4
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Dec/2004
t r a c k s : 52
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 288,8 MB
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Musicians: Chet Baker (trumpet, vocals); Art Pepper (alto
saxophone); Herb Geller (alto & tenor saxophone); Jack
Montrose, Phil Urso, Richie Kamuca, Stan Getz (tenor
saxophone); Bud Shank (baritone saxophone, flute); Bob Gordon,
Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve
trombone); Russ Freeman, Bobby Timmons, Pete Jolly, Carl
Perkins (piano); David Wheat (guitar); Carson Smith, Russ
Savakus, Jimmy Bond, Red Mitchell, Joe Mondragon, Leroy
Vinnegar, Bob Whitlock, Curtis Counce (bass); Bob Neel, Peter
Litman, Larance Marable, Shelly Manne, Larry Bunker, Stan
Levey, Chico Hamilton (drums); Peter Loughbrough (tympani);
Corky Hale (harp); Ed Lustgarten, Ray Kramer, Eleanor Slatkin,
Kurt Reher (cello)
Review: One of the more outwardly troubled jazz musicians, his
life a continuing saga of inspiration and addiction, Chet Baker
continued to fascinate his listeners from his early fifties
appearances with Charlie Parker and his first recordings as a
leading exponent of West Coast cool jazz until his mysterious
fall from a balcony in Amsterdam in 1988. BakerÆs untrained
voice nonetheless affected listeners with its unpretentious and
haunting qualities, and his precocious trumpet playing remained
melodic and improvisationally succinct despite lack of formal
education in theory. Now fifty years later, BakerÆs music
continues to enchant listeners with its originality and
ineffable charm, his plaintive ôMy Funny Valentineö or his
spare and loping ôArenÆt You Glad YouÆre You?ö with Gerry
Mulligan still ringing in listenersÆ ears. Even after the
publication of James GavinÆs biography of Baker, Deep In A
Dream, which documented with dozens of new details his career
and his demons, the mystery of Chet Baker remains.
Pacific JazzÆ Prince Of Cool: The Pacific Jazz Years 1952-1957
captures Baker at the start of his ascent in public
consciousness as the energy of youth and the growth in
creativity helped to imprint his brand of trumpet playing as
one consisting of directness within a fairly narrow range. But
like Billie Holiday, who remained within a comfortable range
and still communicated amplitudes of unforgettable emotion
nonetheless, Baker proved that reaching an audience could be
done without compromising artistry. His live recording with
Stan Getz at The Haig paired two harmonically compatible but
personally incompatible masters who left an indelible mark on
jazz vocabulary, both of whom drawing upon reservoirs of
emotion to connect with audiences while remaining distinctive
and innovative. Indeed, a majority of the musicians who joined
Baker on these early recordings went on to establish their own
jazz identities: musicians like Bob Brookmeyer, Shelly Manne,
Art Pepper, Chico Hamilton, Herb Geller and Leroy Vinnegar.
The three-CD set comprising Pacific Cool is broken into three
distinct aspects of BakerÆs talent: his early vocal work from
albums like Chet Baker Sings; his recordings as the leader on
trumpet of his own groups from ten of his albums; and his
collaborations with other well-known musicians in band
settings. The fact that BakerÆs music could be segmented into
three different parts suggests the breadth of his talent, some
of which critics underestimated at the time but which has
endured intact throughout the years. The choir-boy qualities of
BakerÆs voice contrast with the intensity and aggressive swing
of his trumpet work on songs like ôTo MickeyÆs Memory.ö The
romanticism of his singing gives no hint at the harder edges of
his playing or the argumentative nature of his personality.
The CD entitled Chet Sings does intend to convey the dreamy
quality of his singing, with Russ Freeman sometimes on celeste
as well as piano and with guitarist David WheatÆs accompaniment
gently chiming in chords rather than pushing the beat as would
a rhythm guitarist. On songs like ôLetÆs Get Lost,ö the lyrics
attain a wistful quality, implying ambivalence rather than
giddiness. ôI Fall In Love Too Easilyö adds again an ironic
dimension to his singing with the thrill of romance tempered by
the knowledge of its undesired consequences.
The second CD, Chet Plays, sequences the smoldering intensity
of BakerÆs playing on ôBeaÆs Flatö next to the leisurely but
nevertheless urgent approach to ballads like ôHow Long Has This
Been Going On?ö with which Baker felt so comfortable. In
addition, even though Baker spent much of his later career
performing many of the same popular standards, his work at the
start of his career covered a wider song list, including
compositions like ôLucius Luö or ôHappy Little Sunbeamö written
by some of his band members.
And Chet & Friends, the third CD, continues the irony, the
double perspective, that much of BakerÆs life and music lent
itself to. The ôFriendsö to whom the title refers, like Art
Pepper, Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz, never were close friends
of BakerÆs, and in fact their strong personalities usually
clashed off stage whenever they performed. Yet, on record,
their mutual feeling for the music overcame personality
differences, and the incomparable beauty of the results, like
PepperÆs playing with Baker on ôTynan Timeö seemed effortless.
The fact that Pete Jolly, who accompanies Baker on several of
the tracks, passed away last week signals the timelessness of
the recordings, the music still relevant a half century after
it was recorded during a few years of the nascent West Coast
jazz movement. Many of the tracks on the third disk do attain
moments of transcendence that remain ineradicably etched in
memory.
Prince Of Cool, though containing but a fraction of BakerÆs
output, represents through conscientious culling of his
available recordings a portrait of the artist as a young man
when his talent was fresh, when he participated in an important
jazz movement, when the habits and self-destructiveness of his
adulthood were being formed, when his new ideas were being
tried for the first time, and when one of the more authentic
musical voices in jazz had a lot to say vocally and
instrumentally.
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CD1
01-I Fall In Love Too Easily [03:21]
02-But Not For Me [03:07]
03-My Funny Valentine [02:21]
04-Embraceable You [02:10]
05-Let's Get Lost [03:45]
06-Time After Time [02:48]
07-I Get Along Without You Very Well [03:02]
08-That Old Feeling [03:06]
09-You Don't Know What Love Is [04:51]
10-My Ideal [04:25]
11-Come Rain Or Come Shine [02:10]
12-There Will Never Be Another You [03:02]
13-Grey December [03:42]
14-It's Always You [03:37]
15-The Thrill Is Gone [02:53]
16-There's A Lull in My Life [02:56]
17-Like Somebody In Love [02:27]
18-My Buddy [03:21]
19-I've Never Been In Love Before [04:31]
20-The Night We Called It A Day [02:22]
CD2
01-Stella By Starlight [03:56]
02-How Long Has This Been Going On? [02:49]
03-I Can't Get Started [03:08]
04-Pro Defunctus [03:29]
05-All The Things You Are [02:56]
06-Imagination [03:02]
07-On Green Dolphin Street [03:11]
08-To Mickey's Memory [05:16]
09-Bea's Flat [03:01]
10-Trav'lin' Light [03:12]
11-Happy Little Sunbeam [02:44]
12-The Half Dozens [02:24]
13-Lucius Lu [05:37]
14-Lullaby Of The Leaves [04:33]
15-Jumpin' Off A Clef [04:58]
16-Moonlight Becomes You [03:27]
CD3
01-Sweet lorraine [03:13]
02-Aren't You Glad You're You? [02:53]
03-Tynan Time [05:34]
04-Minor Yours [07:15]
05-Five Brothers [03:01]
06-Darn That Dream [03:52]
07-Lush Life [04:57]
08-The Route [05:06]
09-C.T.A [05:12]
10-The Way You Look Tonight [06:22]
11-Yesterdays [04:25]
12-My Old Flame [03:15]
13-Love Nest [04:20]
14-Picture Of Heath [06:46]
15-My Funny Valentine [05:15]
16-Love Me Or Leave Me [02:42]
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195:4
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