About the Artist
Born in 1929 during the great Depression, Chet Baker grew up in Oklahoma but eventually moved with his family to California. Being the son of the guitarist Chesney Henry Baker, his passion for music had already taken from inside the domestic walls. As a child he was gifted a trombone and later a trumpet, which would become his signature instrument. Having received some academic musical instruction at Glendale Junior High School, Baker affirmed on more than one occasion that even though he was able to read music, the classic terminology of chord progressions held significance for him. No doubt his performing genius had a self-instructing matrix. The first to notice him and bring him on tour was Charlie Parker (not a very minor artist!), who chose Baker for a series of concerts on the West Coast, Baker soon joined the formidable Gerry Mulligan Quartet, whose peculiarity was in the great interaction between the leaders baritone saxophone and the crystalline phrases from Baker s trumpet. Another fundamental aspect of the quartets approach to break away from be-bop conventions which were very much in fashion at the time speaking- and to develop a contrapuntal drafting of the melodies. The band had a short life, mainly because of Mulligan s drug problems and his stints in jail but also over disagreements he d has with Baker over money. Their most exemplary success that gained attention outside of traditional jazz circuits was their version of My Funny Valentine , with the trumpet player revealed to the world his talent for combining technical mastery with passionate interpretation. In the mid-50 s, following a survey of both readers and experts, Baker was voted best jazz performer by the prestigious Down Beat magazine. Bakers problems with heroin are well known, the substance would accompany him for the majority of his career and threaten to destroy it all the while. His struggles with the drug eventually brought him to release some albums that are artistically questionable and also and also brought him in trouble with the law, including a year spent in jail in Lucca, Italy. Also famous is the story of how he lost his front teeth Baker reported being beaten up by some people after the concert, while others said it was a showdown with a pusher over drug debts. The incident and the damage done to his teeth left him in so much pain that he was no longer able to pay. Resigned and alone, Baker disappeared from the stage until one of his admirers (and future benefactor) recognised him as a toothless clerk at a gas station and decided to help him regain his health. After being fitted with dentures Baker taught himself to play the trumpet again, which from technical standpoint presented a considerable challenge. Partially recovered, he bounced back and began to perform live and record again particularly of interest are the recordings made during his New York period which he found a rejuvenated expressive verve, more intimate than ever before and dominated by the adversities that sculpted his health and everyday life. In the 80 s< Baker was sought out for important collaborations, even outside the jazz field for example, his touching trumpet solo in Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello, a cue in which the English singer/songwriter talks about the controversial was over the Falkland Islands. Chet Bakers dramatic death was as bizarre as his life. On May 13, 1988, at the age of 58, he was found in an Amsterdam alley after having fallen from his second floor hotel room. Destiny perhaps played its hand, but an autopsy confirmed that the artist had taken small amounts of heroin and cocaine before the accident occurred. His fame and compositions have outlived him and will continue to survive, with all their frail sweetness and stylish coherence.