Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings (Blue Note Essentials Series)

The complementary talents of Chet Baker (1929 - 1988) as both a trumpeter and a singer are well known today. Both Chet's trumpet and his voice seem to be extensions of the same musical personality, and once you familiarize yourself with both facets of Baker, expect to hear them both.

However, this album was a revelation at the time, bringing Baker new fame and a new audience less familiar with jazz than with pop music. The reasons are obvious: Chet's voice is delicate and beautiful, while his phrasing always swings and surprises. While Chet Baker Sings is now considered a classic and continues to be a jazz bestseller, its initial critical reception was not too good, and many renowned jazz critics disapproved of Chet's vocals as rough, unprofessional and not masculine. Despite these opinions, the album never stopped selling, and its popularity was such that after its initial release in 1954 as a 10-inch LP (Pacific Jazz LP11), which contained only eight tracks, it resurfaced in 1956 as a 12-inch LP (World Pacific PJ-1222).

There are several albums by Chet Baker entitled "Chet Baker Sings", but this one, recorded for Pacific Jazz in 1954 and 1956, is the original and arguably the best. The album showcases Chet's unmistakable, skin-crawling vocals and stellar trumpet playing in two different quartet line-ups, both with pianist Russ Freeman, on a series of classic standards he made his own, including "My Funny Valentine", "That Old Feeling" and "I Fall In Love Too Easily".

Blue Note Essentials: The label's LP classics at uncompromisingly good value for the first time, without compromising on flawless production. 140g optimal pressing from the hi-res master, single sleeve