CHET BAKER

1. Revelation
2. Line For Lyons

Chet Baker, Jimmy Bond, Peter Littman, Bobby Timmons, Phil Urso

 LINER NOTES

For the enthusiastic audiences that jammed clubs and concert halls all thorough 1956, this album provides the representative slice of Baker and the Quintet for which they have been asking. This is the same group heard and applauded throughout the United States. Perhaps more important, a new Chet Baker is unveiled. This is not the Chet Baker heard with the Mulligan Quartet or at Ann Arbor. He has not changed radically. That sound is still there. Only the passage of time could bring about what has happened. He speaks with authority now, and with an electric spark that was not as evident in the past.

CHET BAKER AND CREW, or the Quintet, had as its nucleus two of the members of Baker's original "European Quartet," Philadelphia-born bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Peter Littman from Boston. Fresh-home from Europe in May 1956, on the first leg of his American tour, Baker hired pianist Harvey Leonard, who saw the new group through the first few weeks and produced several noteworthy arrangements. Soon afterward, pianist Bobby Timmons joined and with the addition of tenor saxist and exHerdsman, Phil Urso, the quintet was complete.

The group's remarkable extroversion can be credited to Urso. He innately possesses that rollicking, free-wheeling, rhythmic feeling that is so much a part of the Zoot Sims concept. In addition to the regular members of the group, Chet has been featuring the "chromatic tympani" of Bill Loughbrough. It was he who conceived and built the new well known "boobams." The inclusion of Loughbrough's work on "To Mickey's Memory" here is a touch that makes this album such a representative sampling of what "Chet Baker And Crew" have been performing before live audiences recently.

Chet Baker's position on both the Down Beat and Metronome Polls as the nation's "Number One Trumpeter" and his tours at home and abroad have created a flurry of interest that has snowballed. Recognition of his ability has spread. His work in Europe has left a deep impression. Since his return from abroad, the demand for his appearance in the U.S. alone has increased three-fold.

Because of Baker's extensive personal appearances throughout the United States and Europe, the opportunities to record him have been virtually non-existent. The eight new performances contained on CHET BAKER AND CREW are the first to be released by the quintet that Chet has been fronting since his return to the United States in May, 1956.

These are the first recordings made by Baker in more than two years under the direct supervision of Pacific Jazz President, Richard Bock. Previously on-the-spot tapings of Baker's concerts were submitted to Bock for possible release. In almost every case, poor acoustics and out of tune pianos ruined what otherwise might have been important recordings. His concert appearance at the University of Michigan in May, 1954, was an exception to this. While not the ultimate in recording techniques, the material proved satisfactory and "Jazz At Ann Arbor" was released later that year.

It is altogether fitting that the long awaited CHET BAKER AND CREW should be exemplary of the best in engineering and quality reproduction. All eight tracks were recorded at the Forum Theater with custom equipment and Chet Baker has been captured on record as never before.

It appears that 1957 will be an especially good year for Chet Baker and his fans too. Recognizing the strenuous demand on the acclaimed musician's time, Bock has spent the latter part of 1956 recording Baker in every conceivable combination. Quartets, quintets, octets and a big band have been readied for 1957 release, using the vast amount of material Baker amassed during his absence for records.

In the recording studios and on the stage of the Forum Theater, Baker sings and plays surrounded by top jazz artists. Enough material has been recorded to produce another vocal album. In CHET BAKER AND CREW, as in the to-be-released albums, Chet Baker is no longer the unsure youngster with the downthrust horn. There is something else too ...that indefinable elusive quality that separates the man from the boy.

-Woody Woodward

1. My Funny Valentine

1. Line For Lyons

 LINER NOTES

The spine-tingling sound of Chet Baker's horn cutting through the darkness of a warm, midnight-blue, scent-laden autumn Italian night is an unforgettable experience.

Trumpeter Chet Baker, with his smouldering 'James Dean' looks, was one of the music's most individual voices, but, at the same time, one of the music's most tormented souls. For Chet Baker -- celebrated as one of the music's most revered and instantly recognisable trumpet stylists -- life was a constant struggle against a weakness for drugs which would constantly challenge one of the music's most creative spirits. It was a challenge that ended abruptly and tragically, on the pavement of an Amsterdam street in 1988, as a result of his falling from a balcony. However, in spite of challenging Baker the man, somehow his dependence never completely overwhelmed Baker the musician, as you can hear on these significant sides recorded in exile in Italy.

These reissued sessions, laid down in 1959, prefaced one of the trumpeter's most troubled periods. This was a time when he was struggling to come to terms with the devastating addiction that threatened his very life, not to mention his fragile responsibilities to his young family. But it was a time when he genuinely looked with optimism to the future -- he really felt he could overcome his addiction, constantly seeking 'less-destructive' substitutes for the hard stuff. And how inviting the warm, friendly, easy-going vibe of Italy, with its initially welcoming freedoms, must have seemed.

Indeed, initially, the American star was greeted like a hero. Baker arrived with a history -- he had played with the legendary Charlie Parker, albeit briefly. He had even recorded with the great Miles Davis. Baker had contributed his distinctive, laid-back trumpet style to what became dubbed the classic 'West Coast Sound'.

Sadly -- and naively, perhaps -- he didn't take into account a thrusting, aggressive, sensationalist Italian press corps out for a good story.

Chesney Henry Baker (born 23 December 1929) established his unique voice on trumpet first in US Army bands. Indeed, his time in the Army had introduced him to a 'free and easy' Europe, and he was to return here, less than a decade after his 1951 discharge from the military.

Baker rarely played beyond the seemingly narrowest of 'emotional' or physical ranges (rarely 'taking off' into the stratosphere simply to impress, like some). His influences were undoubtedly (from the 'classic' tradition) Bix Beiderbecke and (into and beyond the 'modern' period) Miles Davis. Chet Baker first made his mark on the US scene with Gerry Mulligan's ground-breaking 'West Coast Sound',pianoless quartet. Baker's low-key but heart-rending contributions to tracks such as 'My Funny Valentine' and 'Moonlight In Vermont' in Mulligan's 1952 quartet set his much-admired style irrevocably in stone.

Emerging from a challenging prison sentence on notorious Riker's Island in 1959, Baker faced the prospect of losing his essential 'cabaret card' (no card, no work) should he be caught with drugs again. Cutting his last sides for Riverside (the gorgeous Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe), the trumpeter took the money and ran -- to Europe. In the August he worked at the Blue Note, Paris, before hitting Italy, where leading Italian names queued up to work with him. One of them was pianist Romano Mussolini (son of the Italian dictator). Initially, Baker had no idea of Mussolini's infamous family connections. The oft-repeated story goes that when Baker was told of young Romano's parentage, the American trumpeter was taken aback but quickly regained his composure and, going over to the pianist, laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder with the seriously comforting words... 'I'm sorry about your old man...'.

The delightful sides reproduced here (some of which include some of Chet Baker's better vocal work) were recorded over two exceptional, but subsequently critically underrated sessions with top-notch Italian musicians at the end of 1959 for the Jazzland label: the formerly hard-to-find Chet Baker In Milan (recorded 25 September and 6 October), and Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings (28 & 29 September and 5 October), with beautiful string arrangements on the latter by the gifted Guilio Libano. And, indeed, Glauco Masetti on alto saxophone, one of Italy's leading lights of the time, brings a real 'Art Pepper' spirit and vibe to the sessions, evoking moments from the celebrated Pepper-Baker Playboys collaboration of 1956.

The high spirits in evidence on lively 'bebop' tracks such as Tadd Dameron's and Charlie Parker's 'Ladybird', Miles Davis' 'Tune Up' and Gerry Mulligan's 'Line For Lyons' contrasts with the toe-curling romanticism of perennial standards such as 'When I Fall In Love', 'Angel Eyes', 'Autumn In New York' and the outgoing 'Deep In A Dream'.

Baker's promising new life in Italy, during which he had actually checked into a clinic, was shattered the following July by the squalid press sensationalism surrounding his arrest, again for drug offenses. The court case that followed resulted in a harsh seven-year sentence, later reduced to 16 months.

The sessions here, recorded at the end of a beautiful Italian summer, document one of Chet Baker's most under- represented but most surprisingly creative periods. Treasure them.

Chrissie Murray

1. Five Brothers
2. Tiny's Blues

July 16, 1955

 LINER NOTES

The Newport Jazz Festival brought Chet Baker to the great Rhode Island parade with his own quartet including outstanding California pianist Russ Freeman; opening with an exciting version of "Walkin" followed by an essay of his singular and moving vocals in "You Don't Know What Love Is."

After these two performances we listen to him playing "Five Brothers" together with his great partner from a few years earlier, Gerry Mulligan, and then to a blues by the great Tiny Kahn with contributions by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and tenor sax Al Cohn. The remarkable stature of these guests brings forth some solos which definitely were not meant to be left in the archives.

The most amazing encounter in that festival is for Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan who is going to yield it a substantial follow-up in the 70s - the one with Dave Brubeck and his Quartet featuring alto sax player Paul Desmond. The result is an extended improvisation on "Tea for Two."

Two tracks complete the selection. They are not unissued like the previous takes, but they can rightly be considered as true rarities since they originally appeared only on a 45 record unavailable for many years. The recording dates from 1956 in Germany and it features Chet Baker on trumpet and vocals joining guitar and vocals by Caterina Valente at that time a "star" in the pop music world. The songs and feeling, however, rest on a solid jazz background and it would surely be hard to expect anything different if we are to consider the brilliant and touching contribution by Chet.

The two pieces with Kurt Edelhagan's Orchestra were recorded at Baden Baden, Germany. They Document the end of a long European tour started in September 1955 with the late Dick Twardzik and carried on through Paris, London, Paris again, Copenhagen, Rome, Florence and Berlin before to the U.S. for the historical session "Chet Baker Sings" recorded on July 23, 1956 with a quartet featuring Russ Freeman (Los Jazz Studios, PJ 1222).

CCB has more live recordings of Chet from this time period including a live concert in Mainz with Dick Twardzick.

The Legend continues on...

September 2000

The Last Concert - Brown-Roach

To talk about this concert at the Continental Restaurant, in Norfolk, by the Roach/Brown quintet, we must begin by the end. Unfortunately, in Brownie's life and musical career, the beginning and the end are very close to each other. In the early morning hours of June 26,1956, the outstanding trumpet player called Clifford Brown died aged 25 on a car accident along with pianist Richie Powell (Bud Powell's younger brother) and the latter's wife. That marked the inevitable end of the Roach-Brown Quintet, one of the most memorable small units in the history of jazz. Just one day before, on June 25, Clifford had joined a Jam Session in Philadelphia where three tunes were recorded on amateur equipment. All were later released in an album called "The Beginning and the End", which comprised that session with two tunes recorded by Brownie on his commercial recording debut with Chris Powell (no relation with the previous two) and his Blue Flames on March 21,1952. The Philadelphia jam was not only Brownie's last recorded music, but also most probably the last music he ever played. But on that session he wasn't accompanied by any member of the Roach quintet: it was just a pick up group consisting in local performers and maybe friends, given that Brownie had been born in Wilmington and Philadelphia was his home town. By the end of June, the quintet members had taken some days off and Max Roach was back in New York. Their last studio session had been on February 16, 1956 and then they had toured through the states, ending with a concert at the Continental Restaurant in Norfolk on June 18. Unaware to the players or to the audience, this was to be the last concert ever by the quintet.

The Newport events [July 16, 1955] comprised many different groups, and that evening also performed the Paul Desmond-Dave Brubeck Quartet and a Chet Baker quintet with Gerry Mulligan. At the end of the show, some of the players joined the stage for a jam session on "Tea For Two", in which Brownie is heard at the end trading exciting fours with Mulligan, Baker and Desmond until the recording machine once again runs out of tape and the jam fades

Matia Rinar

1. My Funny Valentine
2. Line For Lyons

Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Victor Lewis, Jim McNeely, George Mraz

 LINER NOTES

Stan Getz plays the tenor saxophone with an almost insolent authority. Chet Baker sings and plays trumpet with a wistful, introspective grace. Where Getz is assertive and commanding, Baker is diffident and reflective. Both men suffered from selfinduced adversity in the fifties; but whereas Getz, after a six month recuperation spell in Sweden and Africaa, fought back to continue his ascent to the pinnacle of his craft, Chet Baker found the way back infinitely more painful and tortuous, the most savage setback being the loss of his teeth in 1968 when he was set upon by junkies in San Fransisco.

Getz, 58, from Pennsylvania and Baker, 53, from Yale, Oklahoma, have widely differing personalities and musical predilections; yet the idea of recording them together for the first time (I think) since their 1958 Verve date, was an inspirational one. (Incidently, Getz and Baker came close to appearing on record together in November 1974 when Chet, Gerry Mulligan and Stan all appeared on the same bill at Carnegie Hall - but contractual problems meant that only Mulligan and Baker are heard on the two CTI albums that resulted).

t is appropriate, too, that the setting for the first recorded meeting of Getz and Baker in 25 years should be in Stockholm, because, apart from Stan's well-known affection for the city, both he and Chet in the fifties were major evangelists for the so-called "cool school" of jazz which struck such a responsive chord among Swedish jazz lovers.

Having reunited these two disparate but eminently compatible and abundantly creative musicians, it was indispensible to equip them with an exemplary rhythm section - and, happily, the Stan Getz Quartet at the time of the recording was endowed with exactly that.

Jim McNeely, from Chicago, first came to notice as a member of the Thad Jones - Mel Lewis Orchestra which he joined in 1978. Ha has also worked with Ted Curson and Chris Woods and has made a couple of albums under his own name.

George Mraz, from Pisek, Czechoslovakia, a graduate of Prague Conservatory, worked with Stan Getz in 1974/75 and also with the Jones-Lewis Orchestra. His other credits are too numerous to lost but they include work with Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Dizzy Gillespie - and with Chet Baker on the "Studio Trieste" album he recorded with Jim Hall and Hubert Laws for CTI last year.

Victor Lewis provides eloquent testimony to Stan Getz's ability to pick remarkably good young musicians for his groups. Lewis has been with Getz for three years now and is a dynamic and subtle drummer who has also recorded with guitarist Jimmy Gourley.

As for the music - well, if the recording fidelity and sophistication belong to the eighties, the tunes are engagingly redolent of the fifties, and this album isvery much a celebration of those golden, post-bop years. I remember Lars Gullin"s recording of "Just Friends" from 1958. It's a pleasing sequence for jazz improvisers, not least because of those agreeable B flat minor 7th - E flat 7th changes in bars seven and eight and 23 and 24.

"Stella By Starlight", the 1945 Victor Young - Ned Washington song, is another standard given new currency as a swinger rather than a slow ballad by the jazzmen of the fifties. Stan Getz recorded it for the Clef label in 1952. And Sonny Rollins's inverted 36-bar tribute to Nigeria was first recorded by Rollins and Miles Davis in 1954.

"My Funny Valentine", which, as Doug Ramsay has noted, belongs in all but copyright to Chet Baker, was a palpable cool jazz hit for the Baker/Gerry Mulligan Quartet in 1952; "Milestones", the first of tao different themes given that title by Miles Davis, pre-dates the fifties a little, Having been recorded by Bird (on tenor) and Miles in August 1947.

But "Dear Old Stockholm", Getz's treatment of a lovely Swedish folk song, was originally recorded by him in Stockholm on March 23, 1951. And, of course, "Line For Lyons" comes from the same Baker/Mulligan 1952 session which produced "My Funny Valentine".

The music on this album speaks so eloquently for itself that it would be redundant to make any elaborate analysis of it. Sufficient to say that Stan plays throughout with akll the flair and confidence od a man who knows that nobody in the world plays that kind of tenor saxophone better than he does. Chet Baker's singing, clearly no thrat to Pavarotti, has an affecting poignancy about it and his trumpet playing has a clarity and lyrical beauty which are stunning.

Both Getz and Baker are supreme melodists - just listen to the way in which they capture and intensify the plaintive quality of "Dear Old Stockholm", which Stan chose as a totally apposite first encore at the Sodra Theatre. (The second encore was the cheerfully contrpuntal "Line For Lyons" which Stan and Chet play without the rhythm section.

The solo work of all five musicians is of a distinctly high order and McNeely, Mraz and Lewis function magnificently as a rhythm section throughout, driving hard on the up-tempo numbers and giving sensitive and sympathetic support on the slower pieces.

To have been present at the concert on February 18th, 1983 must have been an exhilirating experience. To have this superb recording of the event is certainly the next best thing.

- Mike Hennessey

1. My Funny Valentine
2. Bernie's Tune

Chet Baker, Franco Cerri, Lars Gullin, Glauco Masetti, Romano Mussoliniia, Jimmy Pratt

 LINER NOTES