Chet Baker in Paris in June 1980

On June 25, 1980, trumpeter Chet Baker was in Paris on tour. That night, he performed at the Dreher Club, located in the basement of the building at 1 Rue Saint-Denis, at the corner of Place du Châtelet. He was backed by Nicola Stilo on flute, Karl Ratzer on guitar, Ricardo Del Fra on bass and Al Levitt on drums. The performance was taped by Germany's Circle Records..

Though the music was released 25 years ago on vinyl, the audio quality wasn't ideal. The Dreher Club was small and cramped with patrons sitting close to the stage, blocking various acoustic parameters and compromising the fidelity. Subsequent CDs were dubbed from the original vinyl release, which means they suffered from the same sonic problems.

Now, the sound has been given an overhaul. To remedy the original problem, said Frieder Mollat at the newly revived Circle Records, Circle had Mark Wingfield, a U.K. jazz guitarist and producer, rework the sound saturation and mastering using mint condition vinyl LPs of the recording. The result is superb. In the new release, there is a huge difference in sound detail and clarity compared to the original vinyl release.

The songs performed are Richard Alan Beirach's Leaving, Jimmy Heath's D.S. Dilemma, Enrico Pieranunzi's Night Bird, There Will Never Be Another You, Tune Up and Bud Powell's Tempus Fugit.

Best of all, Circle has made the newly restored album available for free via digital streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon Music.

For more information, visit Circle Records here.

Here's There Will Never Be Another You, with the spectacular playing of Italian flutist Nicola Stilo (Nicola, please email me at [email protected])...