Dean Baker

Sometimes known as the Prince of Cool and the James Dean of jazz, Chet Baker was one of the most popular and controversial jazz musicians. He was the primary exponent of West Coast school of cool jazz (that was in early and mid-1950s). As a trumpeter, he had an intimate and romantic style of playing music, and attracted a lot of attention beyond jazz, mainly because of his movie star looks. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s.

Chet Baker & Crew : The Forum Theatre Recordings. Sometimes known as the Prince of Cool and the James Dean of jazz, Chet Baker was one of the most popular and controversial jazz musicians. He was the primary exponent of West Coast school of cool jazz (that was in early and mid-1950s). As a trumpeter, he had an intimate and romantic style of playing music, and attracted a lot of attention beyond jazz, mainly because of his movie star looks. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s.

Behind his fame as jazz's doomed youth - falling from James Dean glamour to an accidental early end - it is easy to forget that Chet Baker was an intuitively brilliant trumpet improviser in a 1950s Miles Davis manner, as these tracks from Rome in 1979-80 confirm. Baker had relearned the instrument in the 1970s, heroin and irate dealers having claimed his original teeth, and he's at his late-career best here - poised in construction, seductively plummy-toned, and full of fresh ideas. Apart from My Funny Valentine (sung by Baker in his mouthful-of-dough whisper) the engaging themes are by the classy Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi and saxist Maurizio Giammaco - embracing smoky ballads and luxuriously-voiced but melodically ingenious hard-bop…

Chet Baker & Bud Shank - Theme Music From "The James Dean Story" (1956) {Pacific Jazz 07777 7 95251 2 6 rel 2000}
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© 1956, 2000 Pacific Jazz / Capitol | 07777 7 95251 2 6
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Soundtracks

West coast cool purveyors Chet Baker (trumpet) and Bud Shank team up to provide the incidental soundtrack to The James Dean Story (1958). Granted, the biopic was presumably made to cash in on the actor's untimely demise, but movie buffs also recognize it as one of director Robert Altman's earliest features. The score was written by Leith Stevens, who had previously worked on Private Hell 36 (1954), The Wild One (1954), and the Oscar-winning sci-fi classic Destination Moon (1950). Those credentials may have gotten Stevens the gig, but his contributions remain somewhat of a double-edged sword.

Elton Dean & The Wrong Object - The Unbelievable Truth (2007) {2014 Japan Mini LP SHM-CD Remaster}
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© 2007, 2014 Vivid Sound / MoonJune Records | VSCD-4267
Jazz / Modern Creative / Avant-Garde Jazz

Cardboard sleeve reissue. Features SHM-CD format. A sizzling session recorded live in Paris in October of 2005 (less than four months before Elton Dean's untimely passing), The Unbelievable Truth demonstrates the remarkable breadth of the late British saxophonist's reach. The repertoire highlights the range of his compositional skills, as well as The Wrong Object's equally-diverse writing and freewheeling improvisational abilities. From quirky Zappa-esque complexity to ominous material reminiscent of Dean's 1970s tenure with Soft Machine (and even a hint of swing), The Unbelievable Truth documents how Dean remained a vital musical force to the very end.