I met Chet when we both attended. El Camino College in Carson, California, ...we just clicked....he as the teacher and I as the student....he taught me everything that I know about quality contemporary music....and even though to this day I cannot read a note of music..I have had a successful career as a session musician for 35 years ( even played with Bird and Diz at an Open mic session at Birdland back in the 50s) He got me my first gig with the Shelly Manne group in North Hollywood at a. Joint called Sorrentino’s. I was with him in Toronto just weeks before his passing and he was playing so well...everything was working and coming together. I miss him so much every day my life.
I wish I could be you. Or, should you ever be where I am and I am there with you, maybe I could shake your hand. Music is the only only only thing that is pure. I am glad that you are you!
Las Latty Thanks for sharing such a positive experience of Chet. He was not only gifted musically, but as I heard him speak in beautiful Italian about music, a fine mind sparkled through. I am so sorry that his choices robbed him, and us of more, but evidently, he finally pulled it together and left at his best peak in mature years......
Do you know how he felt about his sound changing after his teeth were replaced? Did he ever mention anything about it? I love his later recordings because I can hear a difference in his tone, and it reminds me how he fought to relearn his embouchure and embrace his passion while battling his addiction.
Through many years, listening to Chet Baker has given me a special kind of peace and appreciation for the particular pleasure that comes with hearing his beautiful music.
So wonderful…..where did all the good things go that inspired so many people to produce such incredible music as this….? Those were the days…..thank you for sharing this great album with all of us.
The 'good things' are still here, but... The music industry is basically controlled by 3 companies. They all basically just shove worthless, formulaic pop music down the throats of pre-teens (they generate the most income). Stuff like this is for the listener who has been exposed to much broader horizons.
@@thomassicard3733 thanks. RU-vid does suffer from a "oh, music was so so much better when I was young" syndrome. But also the consolidation of the industry has hurt art tremendously.
Cada ves que escucho a chet me emociona hasta las lágrimas me hace vibrar hasta las raíces. recuerdo a mi padre cuando tocaba su tromoeta. Gracias Chet.
Ricardo, a mi me ha pasado eso muchas veces. Ahora escuchando" Everytime we say goodbye", una vez más, ha vuelto a suceder. ¡Vaya dos músicos! y no es que vaya a descubrirlos yo ahora, je, je.
This is such a beautiful album, it's like waking up from a dream and still remembering the lingering memories of the sweet images you just woke up from......
Miles pushed and pushed the limits. While Chet stayed within the parameters of the instrument and genre and created something truly beautiful. Both incredible geniuses. So different but both pushing towards transcendence of a piece of metal in human hands to something more than anyone could put words to. That's music baby!
You beautifully expressed a concept which was latent in my brain for years, but had never found a proper translation into words. "Miles pushed the limits, Chet stayed within the parameters of the instrument." Thanks!
@@simonebruno7425 i dont see why folks always only mention chet vs miles....there are and were so many great folks on the instrument....why dont you mention Thad Jones OR Kenny Dorham or Booker Little...just to name a few ...i knew and played with Chet ,so say this out respect and i think he would ask u the same....??
In my case, it's just a matter of ignorance, really: I happen to know and love the music of Miles and Chet, but I admit I don't have a vast knowledge of the world of trumpet players...
@@steveslagle1859 I think the comparison is pretty obvious. Is it just the instrument? You might also name Freddie Hubbard if you just want to list names...
Chet Baker dont play the instrument, he sing with his soul.....With any other trumpeter we listen to the virtuoso and to the trumpet.... With Baker there is no more trumpet playing, only a soul touching song.... There is no difference when he sing with his voice or with the trumpet, even when is voice is desintegrating....And it is a big mystery than a voice which at times can sing no more still touch the soul with so much force.....The soul of Chet Baker did not die even after so much drug abuse.....And after the lost of his teeth he resurrect himself on another level, more touching of the soul than ever....His last albums are no less heart breaking....I like many other musician on the trumpet, but not one can make stones shed tears but him.....He is on a league of his own..... i think the only other jazz artist that touch me on the same level is Bill Evans who dont play the piano so much but make a singing that tilt the heart like Chet....Bill Evans is in the same boat on the sea of pure art....Forgetting all written biographies about them, are they not obviously 2 separated twin brothers from the same unknown father?
Hace muchos años nos reuníamos con un amigo a escuhar LP de jazz y cuando escuchábamos algo tan hermoso como estos temas decíamos que al oir esta música "uno se sentía más bueno".
I have played trumpet for 60 years, and played and listened to much jazz, including ballads. Nothing beats the duo on "if I should lose..." Just beautiful . ...
My father (a USAF pilot) was stationed in Germany in the early 1960s. He was at the Officers Club one night and who walks in "Chet Baker" he plays a few standards with the house jazz band and leaves.
This is just such a beautiful recording. Those who think Chet was all washed up musically in his later years are obviously not really listening. Love his later stuff, even the singing. He was in great form live in Tokyo shortly before he died.
I am a heavy metal fan( Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth...ect.... Some times i like to enjoy the Beatles, R.Stones..... But this is amazing.......what can i say.....what can i say........?
Un duo profundo, lleno de clase, de dolor, de un sentido musical original, capaces de emocionar en los primeros acordes. Esto es lo que le falta al jazz de hoy. Una balada plena de ternura, de corazón abierto a un pasaje super sensible. Chet y Paul están en la memoria colectiva del jazz.
Chet Baker was simply a masterful musician. His quiet, understated style on the horn as well as his singing was so soothing. He never blasted his horn and he could make his voice sound just like his horn when he was tonguing, a feat I've never heard anyone else accomplish! Great talent. The man had his demons with drugs like so many musicians, who are always seeking to somehow perfect their work, but it only dulls their minds into thinking they are better. You can rarely perfect a natural talent, it just gets better all by itself. Sadly, musicians BELIEVE they sound better when on drugs because their mind is dulled to reality. Chet shows his pitch control and marvelous talent above. (Chet did not do drugs before his performances, he was to much a perfectionist for that, he did them after work. But drugs, especially the opioids, are so seductive and addicting, that it is difficult to get off them, once they get a hold of you, mind, body and soul.) Chet was clean for 7 years, it's difficult to understand how he relapsed, but it can happen.) But he left us some fabulous sounds to remember, both vocally and with his horn, just gorgeous! I prefer to remember him this way, in the above track -- heart-melting!
@@yvesdevriendt928 You are 100% correct -- they mess with your mind! Drugs CAN be a wonderful thing when properly used and prescribed by ethical doctors, otherwise, look out! One reason why street drugs are so dangerous is because you never know what "fillers" they have used in them or the POTENCY of the drug. That's why overdoses occur, the drug can be strong one time and not the next, so the person never knows for sure how much they're REALLY taking of the drug and then if they get a street dose that isn't as strong as what they're used to, they take more. And the NEXT dose of the drug could be powerful enough to kill!
@@MJLeger-yj1ww Drugs lead you into questionable situations. Many times you consort with criminals, just to keep the sickness at bay. If drugs were decriminalized, there would only be the toxicity, a public health issue. But there seems a relationship between heroin use, and deeply creative types, whether it's painting or music, we see it, mainly jazz players. Then proximity and availability loom as predictors...One wonders if they played into his beating and death; bet it did... The creative act frequently causes such unresolved tension in some artists, and heroin relieves these intense feelings. actually renders one more functional, when the dose is modest. But heroin looses it's effect over time, leads users to increase dose; eventually, the dose gets so high, each time gets more dangerously close to overdose. This is when some dry out for a reset, before resuming use again, with a lower dose, rinse. repeat, and hope for a naloxone or methadone rescue. Methodone worked for me in the '70's. I tapered myself, and got into soccer, so I had zero discomfort...
@@fredyaffe7740 You have a good concept of what drugs (especially opiates) do and what counteracts them (Narcan) but methadone is simply another narcotic to help wean a patient off of a stronger opioid! And you understand, at least in part, what causes their use in the first place and the psychology and need behind it, but it is ignorance that makes them try the drug because I don't think half the people who imbibe really know the full danger of it or how and why they become addicted. You do, and nonetheless, I am happy to hear you were able to deal with and lick the dependency factor. Good luck to you, way to go! (I was a musician all my life and witnessed drug use all around me but I KNEW the dangers of drugs because I asked my father, who was a physician (M.D.) and he told me exactly how it works. ( I wanted to become a doctor also, so I listened!) I was too much of a perfectionist in my music to fall to the dangers of sedation when I was playing, but I understand peer pressure and how it can tempt a person. But I still think if they truly knew what could happen and really understand what addiction does, they wouldn't succumb to even trying it; they have NO IDEA how difficult it is to get off the drug.) Sadly, I believe rehab centers are inadequate facilities because they don't hire the right people to help those deep in the mire of addiction. They try, but they often fail. There's no easy answer really because the brain is such a complex organ. But if some of these young people could see an autopsy with an enlarged, crippled heart due to crack cocaine, and the congested blood vessels around the heart, as well as other organs affected by the drugs they use, PERHAPS it would impress them not to try drugs if they could really see and understand the consequences of what it does to the body besides the mind. Anyway, keep the good work Fred, I'm glad for you!
@@MJLeger-yj1ww Sir,many thanks for the generous and sympathetic words and thoughts. Any appreciation of what it takes to become an MD(my hat is off to those like you who have pushed themselves in school) needs to address the access that Rx writing holds;availability is the sine qua non of addiction,at least from an epidemilogical Pointof View. Chinese tell youth there has been a large investment in raising kids, and it is encumbent on them to repay that investment. I never heard it that way coming up, I thought it was the other way around. My Dad paid attention in school, as he was impressed with finding a way of life(he adored the ethos of medicine, was under its' spell,and was in'85 balto city med society president). As a child I found every drug known to man( poetic license alert..) in his cabinet,and having fallen under the sway of a certain William Burrows(Naked Lunch)I figured out how to mainline. Marijuana parties provided the context for access,and rec. abuse socially. NYC painters were bigtime users and jazz musicians were wildly involved. All these figures seemed successful inspiteof this(short term). My
The first time I met Chet Baker, he was playing at a little neighborhood club called Strykers on 97th & Columbus Avenue on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He was coming back after years of an extended period of absence, having diligently devoted himself to re-learning to play trumpet with dentures, which everybody told him could not be done. But he persevered and prevailed, and this was one of his first comeback gigs. Awesome! I never heard any trumpet sound like that! I don't think it could ever be captured on a recording: So intimate tender innovative & personal...sometimes just whispering & breathing infinite silence space&timelessness into his trumpet...He just loved music & making music so deeeeeeeeeply & innately: just making the purest finest most beautiful sounds and blissful ethereal effects. Chet Baker was truly a great Maestro of the highest degree, a natural-born precocious musical genius like Mozart! During the break I came up to Chet to thank & enthusiastically congratulate him. In my over-enthusiasm I started telling Chet how much I also dug & admired & had been imitating his singing for years, and automatically went into my little imitation of him singing “I Wish I Knew” till I caught myself & felt embarrassed & silly & said,“Oh no! Here I am doing my Chet Baker imitation for Chet Baker!” He just smiled & said “You don't look old enough to remember that record.” (1955 LP called “Chet Baker Sings& Plays") He looked gaunt & emaciated, almost like a derelict. But his voice and manner were rather pleasant polite mellow kind & refined, sensitive gentle very personable sweet good-natured & very likable, casual cultured & well-bred. I asked him if he would sing during his second-set after the break. He thanked me for asking but apologized & explained why he really couldn't because he was working with just a bassist & drummer & no piano... He excused himself when his band-mates summoned him to prepare for their second set. There were just a few other people at that very small dimly-lit cellar club that night. My date was a nice girl who had the same last name as me though we were otherwise unrelated, I barely remember her, but we were both blown-away by Chet! When Chet came back from the break, he opened his set singing “Just Friends” Bless his heart! Still feels good that he honored my request & was singing just for me! His singing always kinda reminds me of Alfalfa from “Our Gang” Alalfa video! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MJde86uISv0.html He reminds me of Chet, because he sings all-out every moment! Every note and every word with all his heart and soul! And he always tends to be bravely out-singing and tenaciously overcoming all obstacles and adverse circumstances. And he tends to struggle to stay on key on the high notes: barely making it by sheer force of will! Bravo Alfalfa! Bravo Chet! I still listen to Chet's music almost every day now, often listening to him continually all day long, and when I try listening to something else for a change, I find myself missing his familiar soothing sound which is so much an integral part of me, I find myself unable to listen to anything else & hafta sink right back into that sweet fine&mellow transcendent celestial atmosphere he creates so effortlessly & endlessly... PS: I had given Chet my business card that night, and to my surprise & amazement-first thing in the morning--he called me! But that's another story for another time now... Please feel free to connect with me: peacelovejoymusic@yahoo.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lisa Frank1 year ago Stryker's Pub was on 86th & Columbus. I believe I met you that night also. I was Chet's drummer. As for his first comeback. That happened in Hollywood back in Feb. of 1969 at The Melody Room.- I was the one who bought him his flugelhorn, and watched him for many months re-learning how to play all over again, suffering from Trigeminal Nerve Damage to both sides of his cheeks and jawline. He went thru a lot of pain, but he never gave up. Then finally, after many months of re-learning, he was finally able to play a complete tune. Soon after this, I got him his first comeback gig at the Melody Room on the Sunset Strip, a few months later helped him to get a record contract at MGM/VERVE called, "BLOOD CHET & TEARS"- The rest you can read in my book of memoirs about Chet on (amazon.com) under the title, "Chet Baker: The Missing Years"- Artt Frank.
He played in a way that seems that the trumpet is a soft instrument, I've tried to play trumpet and it sounds like someone was making a hole with a drill, I have no idea how he can play so soft, amazing, Miles and Chet are the ambassadors of a new way of playing and even understanding trumpet, thanks for given us art of your soul
I can't understand why jazz and "classical" (Baroque, Viennese, Romantic, Modern) are the least popular genres in music today; 1.5% each. In these crazy times, I find this music the most enjoyable.
I would have loved meeting Chet Baker. His playing was so personal, internalized and distinct...maybe because he could also express his music with his singing with that unique phrasing and honesty. He was expressive without having to make a point of it.
Reading all the comments is like reading a poetry book. Chet's music seems to bring out the poet in his many listeners. I especially related to the one who said he wouldn't dare go back and listen to these albums until certain memories were processed and at peace.
Feeling melancholic for all those nights when I was 18 and stayed over at somebodys place, couldnt sleep and listened to this in Amsterdam, magical! Wishing I could bring that all back!
Up to this day, I have heard much more album stuff by Miles Davis than by Chet Baker. I did not not know much about Chet's recordings. And now I'm really overwhelmed by the beauty of this album! Incredible how well they both, Chet Baker and Paul Bley, play and "blend" together. A treasure... Thanks!
Entre os melhores discos já gravados até hoje. Suave, melancólico com Chet Baker magnífico e Paul Blay soberbo. Tudo é econômico, sem excessos e pleno de emoção. Como disse aqui Juan Carlos De Rus num ótimo comentário: a alma agradece.
One of the differences between Miles Davis and Chet Baker for me is: Miles Davis is and was an outstanding musician... but Chet ... brought me to tears ...
"Every Time We Say Goodbye" is awesome, absolutely, achingly beautiful in a perfect way; a "tidy pain" to self-inflict, to lessen what's at-large. That Chet lost his teeth, not to drugs, but an attack, makes one wonder about "gods in the know" who let him pump gas, yet he persisted & despite all odds, relearned lip embouchure to play like an angel with a bent halo, sing like Maria Callas & speak, in Italian. May his soul be cradled in love.
Sometimes you just can NOT keep a good, very talented musician down in spite of what can befall one -- because it's your soul coming out in song, pushed by whatever soulful feelings you have at the time. An expression of your very deepest thoughts coming from way down deep inside. Chet makes you feel very deep, that was part of his talent.
To me this record and the sessions in the Montmartre in Copenhague with NHOP and Doug Raney are amongst the best things I've heard from Chet and overall in jazz... Intimate moments of sublimity
Chat spoke directly in his music seems to capture your attention in the first breath, the first note. 11 years ago now had to give up being a jazz sax player through injury. I listen to Chet but I can't listen too often because his touch is almost too real to me, but the complement I pay him that he gets right into my soul. Wonderful player. I use to play 'Moon and Sand ' a lot and first heard it done by Chet. Thanks for upload
There are so many playing an instrument, as in this case a Trumpet.....and then, there is Chet Baker. What and incredible and beautiful human being, His entire life is placed in each sound and no one could remotely reproduce what he does. What a beautiful Artist!
Es la llave de esa puerta interior que nos eleva a otro plano. Cuando escucho esto todo lo demás desaparece, y siento una imperiosa necesidad de seguir escuchando, como si el aire que sale de esa trompeta fuese el oxígeno necesario para seguir. Y al mismo tiempo, me transporta a un lugar oscuro y doloroso, tan poético como hiriente. Arte.
This is The Kohinoor art piece of jazz and all genres of music. So subtle so subdued yet so powerful to sweep the mind to an unknown realm of ecstatic delight. Won't belittle the wisdom of the person who posted this jewel piece by merely thanking him. Chet Baker went to another world while creating this. He got drenched. Immersed in pure meditative bliss. So are we while listening. Our birth as human beings will remain incomplete without having a chance to listen to this exquisite piece at least once in our lifetime. He will remain living forever in our memories.
Paul Bley is also equally gifted to complement aptly. Birds of a same feather flock together. Otherwise how can this great piece be born. And we would have deprived from getting the chance to listen such a magnificent creation.
I am about to start an NPR radio station in my place of birth...Montego Bay. There is no question that Chet’s music and the music of Til Bronner and Tom Harrell will feature big time in the program schedule.,,,,,,of course also my good buddy Jack Sheldon..who in my opinion comes the closest to what Chet’s music is all about!!
Beautiful set! Five of these songs bring back such memories of when I used to work, and sing them or play them. Now I can let Chet and his crew do the work and I can just sit back, listen, remember and enjoy! It's a cloudy day here with thunderstorms and rain in the offing, just perfectly setting the mood for a musical reverie. Chet's trumpet is soft and mellow, showing his ingenuity, since some trumpet players never learn that soft and subtly all over the keyboard is better than just high and blaring! And Chet's voice is soft and gentle also. Both are just right!
M.J. Leger Yes M, you’re spot on! I’ve met Chet a few times whilst living in Holland in the 70’s being introduced by my good friend Wallace (Wally or Bish) Bishop. Playing mostly at Nick’s Jazz joint, in Laren, and sitting quietly on a stool, head bend and playing almost in a shut-out world of his own. Like a little boy lost playing/singing mesmerisingly sad intimate music that kept you (strangely, but utterly) captivated. We don’t have this kind of very personal, intriguing music no more. And indeed on a cold wintery day listening and savouring this marvellous, very personal Jazz music has become a thing of past. I had already left back for Australia when Chet some years later met his demise/fate in Amsterdam. I am halve way thru this LP and will raise my glass to Chet for having given his music to the world, and via YT. And I also raise my glass to you M and with your sweet lingering memories of Chet and his unique music.. Cheers!
5 лет назад
@@ronaldunkel2681, M.J. Leger, Here here, to the both of you.
@@ronaldunkel2681 From a Dylan song, "Cross the Green Mountain" "Memories linger, sad yet sweet, when I think of the new souls In Heaven will meet. (not a direct quote, but close...) From the sound track of "Gods and Generals"
What a beautiful album, possibly dedicated to a special girl in his life named Diane, which coincidentally connote feelings I have for same. Don't know what I would do 'if I should lose you'. Glad the music could convey the words I want to say.
Paul Bley is superb on his piano with Chet and in his interludes, Chet shows his range with his trumpet and flugelhorn, and his one vocal "You go to my head" is subdued, but lovely. Just beautiful, mellow listening to soothe the soul! Chet is in great form here. Listen to how he swells that note at 5:50, great control. Very nice selection -- thank you for posting this lovely music! It's a favorite of his many recordings.
I love that album much, have heard it so many times, it's a masterpiece. Thank's for the great, phenomenal, profounding, Music. MUSIC IS JUST SO FANTASTIC. Sending you love.
Siempre he sentido en la sin igual y genial entrega de Baker una definición que lo caracteriza , por supuesto con adjetivo, en Baker sobrevive una “envidiable mesura.” Gracias.
You are right Katherine. He was a natural. By not ever having met him, I feel that I was robbed of something very Important, In my life. Didn't know him, but I loved the man.
@@foshoucitron4595 So true. Most of the greatest creators, whether music, poetry, art, dance, whatever, are often very insecure. Maybe it's because they feel so deeply, have pain down inside, which comes out in their work, lovely, sometimes demonic, soothing or restless, somehow it just works! We feel what they felt without even knowing what makes us receptive to their work! Music can evoke every king of emotion in the book. Sometimes good and sometimes bad, but it makes you know you're alive!
