Peter Baker

"In the typically genial 2 CD collection of Schubert duets, trios and quartets are resurrected golden age stereo analogue recordings made in 1973. These come to 25 works, all piano accompanied. The artists are the elite of the day. The only name unfamiliar to me was the tenor Horst R Laubenthal. No corners are cut with the notes which have been freshly penned by Malcolm Macdonald. On the other hand there are no texts or translations.

This live album has been released with a video CD included and runs for 41 minuits. The CD includes An 8 page booklet. The Baker Gurvitz Army was a British rock group formed in late 1974 by drummer Ginger Baker, formerly of Cream, and brothers Adrian (guitar) and Paul Gurvitz (bass), formerly of Gun. The band was filled out by vocalist Snips and keyboard player Peter Lemer. They released three albums between 1974 and 1976, the most successful of which was their self-titled debut, which charted in the U.K. and the U.S.

During his extended "stay" in Europe circa the late '50s and early '60s, Chet Baker produced half a dozen albums for the Riverside Records subsidiary label Jazzland. On Chet Baker in Milan – the first of his overseas sides – Baker revisits the familiar stomping grounds of West Coast cool, even though he is the only American in the band. The basic quartet includes Chet Baker (trumpet), Renato Sellani (piano), Franco Serri (bass), and Gene Victory (drums). However, on a majority of the cuts, that unit is upgraded to a sextet with sax players Glauco Masetti (alto) and Gianno Basso (tenor). According to Peter Drew's brief liner notes essay, these Italian players were found by a local record label and arrangements were essentially retrofitted to suit Baker.