CHET BAKER - Chet Baker Sings
DreamCovers Records 6080
Chet Baker (trumpet & vocals ); Russ Freeman (piano); Carson Smith, Joe Mondragon, Red Mitchell or Jimmy Bond (bass);Lawrence Marable (drums); Neel, Shelly Manne or Lawrence Marable (drums); Bud Shank (alto sax); Corky Hale (harp & String orchestra on tracks 6 & 21-23.
Los Angeles, 1953, 1954, ‘55 & 1956.
Most jazz enthusiasts Loved Baker’s soft focus, lyrical and always inventive trumpet playing but opinion was sharply divided on his ability as a vocalist. I never had any problem with his singing and this CD collects just about everything he recorded for Richard Bock’s Pacific Jazz label in the 1950s. Slow ballads or bright, bubbly swingers like That Old Feeling, Chet was in his element here, swinging on the beat with Freeman’s impeccable and highly sympathetic lines ringing behind him. Like his singing or not, few if any would deny his ability to sing on the beat, swing with the musicians and exercise good, if jazz oriented, intonation. As to that personal, unique trumpet sound there are plenty of instrumental solos interspersed with the vocals on these tracks.
The first 12 tracks here are from the original ten inch LP for Pacific in 1953. Baker is particularly effective on both trumpet and voice on most of these with I Get Along Without You Very Well, It’s Always You, I Wish I Knew and Funny Valentine being standout tracks. All of the material is good though and all of the performances rate high by all concerned. Listening to this 79 minute disc on a car trip from Dorset to Berkshire, it was apparent that all of the music was laid back and relaxing and very easy to listen to on an eighty five minute journey! Chet was a major voice on jazz trumpet but this set will prove to the discerning listener that he was pretty competent as a jazz singer. Unlike many, he knew the language backwards and also how to use it to best effect. It will be in many collections already but if you don’t have more than half these tracks already, now is the time to grab it.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
DreamCovers Records 6080
Chet Baker (trumpet & vocals ); Russ Freeman (piano); Carson Smith, Joe Mondragon, Red Mitchell or Jimmy Bond (bass);Lawrence Marable (drums); Neel, Shelly Manne or Lawrence Marable (drums); Bud Shank (alto sax); Corky Hale (harp & String orchestra on tracks 6 & 21-23.
Los Angeles, 1953, 1954, ‘55 & 1956.
Most jazz enthusiasts Loved Baker’s soft focus, lyrical and always inventive trumpet playing but opinion was sharply divided on his ability as a vocalist. I never had any problem with his singing and this CD collects just about everything he recorded for Richard Bock’s Pacific Jazz label in the 1950s. Slow ballads or bright, bubbly swingers like That Old Feeling, Chet was in his element here, swinging on the beat with Freeman’s impeccable and highly sympathetic lines ringing behind him. Like his singing or not, few if any would deny his ability to sing on the beat, swing with the musicians and exercise good, if jazz oriented, intonation. As to that personal, unique trumpet sound there are plenty of instrumental solos interspersed with the vocals on these tracks.
The first 12 tracks here are from the original ten inch LP for Pacific in 1953. Baker is particularly effective on both trumpet and voice on most of these with I Get Along Without You Very Well, It’s Always You, I Wish I Knew and Funny Valentine being standout tracks. All of the material is good though and all of the performances rate high by all concerned. Listening to this 79 minute disc on a car trip from Dorset to Berkshire, it was apparent that all of the music was laid back and relaxing and very easy to listen to on an eighty five minute journey! Chet was a major voice on jazz trumpet but this set will prove to the discerning listener that he was pretty competent as a jazz singer. Unlike many, he knew the language backwards and also how to use it to best effect. It will be in many collections already but if you don’t have more than half these tracks already, now is the time to grab it.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
