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Learn about the life and career of Chet Baker, a cool jazz innovator who sang and played trumpet with Gerry Mulligan, Charlie Parker, and others. Read about his early years, musical achievements, drug problems, and tragic death.
Jan 6, 2009 · Chet Baker - Almost blue - YouTube. Sweetydu972M. 41.9K subscribers. Subscribed. 552K. 52M views 15 years ago. Amazing Jazz song Almost Blue by Chet Baker / Composed by Costello Lyrics :...
- 8 min
- 52.2M
- Sweetydu972M
- Early Years
- Finding Fame
- Going Solo
- Personal Troubles
- Later Resurgence
- Lasting Legacy
Let’s rewind. Born Chesney Henry Baker, on December 23, 1929, in Yale, Oklahoma, Baker was drawn to music at a young age, aided by the fact that he was born into a musical family (his father had once been a professional guitarist and his mother played piano). A Jack Teagarden fan, his dad bought 14-year-old “Chetty” (as his mum called him) a trombo...
Baker’s big breakthrough was joining baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s quartet in 1952 – an outfit deemed revolutionary at the time because it had no pianist. The unorthodox set up allowed its two horn players more harmonic freedom, however, and prompted them to play intertwining contrapuntal melodies. The group’s gigs attracted huge interest, ...
Baker went solo when Mulligan was incarcerated for narcotics offenses, and quickly made his mark as a vocalist as well as trumpeter, releasing Chet Baker Sings in 1954. His mellow voice possessed a languorous, dreamy quality, and it helped to further his appeal with the wider public. He recorded a slew of albums for Pacific Jazz – among them 1957’s...
But being a jazz musician had its perils and, by this time, hard drugs began to play a major part in the trumpeter’s life. Like many jazz musicians from that period, Chet Baker had been seduced by narcotics, perhaps believing that drugs could aid his creativity. Instead, though, they started to wreck his life. Baker left the US for Europe in the la...
In the 70s, Baker started rebuilding his career. A move to New York saw him recording again, joining the roster at producer Creed Taylor’s influential CTI label, and reuniting with Gerry Mulligan. But tastes were changing in the 70s, with bebop and straight-ahead jazz being eclipsed by the more popular fusion and jazz-rock. By the end of the decade...
Since then, interest in Baker’s life and music has never diminished. He’s been the subject of two films – 2015’s Born To Be Blue, in which Ethan Hawke played Baker; and Bruce Weber’s 1988 documentary, Let’s Get Lost – and had several books written about him, including James Gavin’s revelatory, warts’n’all biography, Deep in a Dream: The Long Night ...
- Charles Waring
- 7 min
Chet Baker was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist noted for the plaintive, fragile tone of both his playing and singing. He was a cult figure whose well-publicized struggles with drug addiction curtailed a promising career.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Chet Baker was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Jul 2, 2016 · Learn about the life and death of Chet Baker, one of the most popular and controversial jazz musicians. Explore his early years, career, drug addiction, comeback and legacy in this comprehensive biography.
A tragically romantic jazz icon whose lyrical trumpet lines and tender vocals helped define the cool, west coast sound. Read Full Biography. STREAM OR BUY: Active. 1940s - 1980s. Born. December 23, 1929 in Yale, OK. Died. May 13, 1988 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
