Results for "Chet Baker"

Chet Baker

Born: December 23, 1929

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. was raised in a musical household in Oklahoma (his father was a guitar player), and coming of age in Southern California during the bebop era of jazz, Baker found success as a trumpet player in 1951 when he was chosen by Charlie Parker to play with him for a series of West Coast engagements.

In 1952, Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, which was an instant phenomenon. Baker became famous on the strength of his solo on their recording of "My Funny Valentine" a piece he was later said to "own". The Quartet, however, lasted less than a year because of Mulligan's arrest on drug charges.

Case File: The Walkin' Papers

by Cool Vic, The Music Dick
October 20, 2026

There are two things I don't trust: a man who claims to know everything about jazz and a record that changes its name without leaving a forwarding address.I was halfway through a respectable cup of coffee when a letter arrived from a reader who'd been listening to Miles Davis's “Walkin.'" He'd come across an ...

Enrico Pieranunzi, Right Now

by Todd M. Carlsen
October 12, 2026

Enrico Pieranunzi turned seventy-six in December 2025. Skip the tribute. He's busy--delivering four masterclass releases across 2026. The solo piano session Ennio Morricone--The Piano Sessions by Enrico Pieranunzi (CAM Sugar, 2026). A mostly-duo album with guitar, Evanscape (Bonsaï Music, 2026). A jazz-classical record with an orchestra, Improclassica (Abeat, 2025). A quartet with tenor saxophone, Perspectives (Red ...

John Scofield: Meant To Be

by John Ephland
October 5, 2026

When John Scofield and I met, in his Vancouver hotel room in June, 1990 on the occasion of the fifth annual du Maurier Ltd., International Jazz Festival, the conversation started with talk of his then-current band and his Blue Note debut, Time On My Hands (Blue Note Records, 1990). By this point, Sco, who ...

An Uplifting Tragedy: Everybody Digs Bill Evans

by Peter Jones
September 16, 2026

In July 1961, 25-year-old bassist Scott LaFaro was killed in a car accident in upstate New York. Four days earlier he had accompanied Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival, and a few days before that, he had made the legendary Village Vanguard live recordings with the Bill Evans Trio Trio that were released as Sunday ...

The Scornful Four: Hopeful Music for Hopeless People

by Jack Kenny
August 1, 2026

This is an exciting and important album, though some of the language surrounding its release obscures more than it reveals. The term “scornful," for instance, hardly captures the evident musical concord here. What we hear instead is a group in genuine sympathy: cooperative, attentive, and fully committed to the shared purpose of the music.

Norma Winstone: A Timeless Place

by Neil Duggan
July 3, 2026

This 1990 recording unites the outstanding vocal talents of Norma Winstone MBE with the NDR Radio Orchestra. Now known as NDR RADIOPHILHARMONIE, the distinguished German radio symphony orchestra, invited Winstone to participate in a broadcast session. In turn, she enlisted pianist and arranger Steve Gray, with whom she had previously collaborated on BBC projects.

Live From Brussels: Abrupt, Artonov, Toots Jazz Club & The Music Village

by Martin Longley
May 16, 2025

Daniel Proietto & Tsubasa Hori Artonov Lab October 6, 2025 Artonov is a festival dedicated to spaces and places and multi-faceted artistic expressions, music always representing a significant chunk of its highly diverse programming. It's a nomadic festival, dedicated to using buildings with an Art Nouveau or Art Deco character, and sometimes ...

Pete McGuinness: Mixed Bag

by Angelo Leonardi
May 25, 2026

Quella che Pete McGuinness guida a New York è tra le poche orchestre capaci di coniugare smagliante professionalità tecnica, ricercatezza e fantasia. È una big band incantevole eppure è meno nota di quanto meriti e quest'album è solo il quarto registrato in due decenni di vita. McGuinness ha operato come trombonista dalla fine degli anni ottanta e come ...

Abbey Lincoln: That's Him

by C. Andrew Hovan
May 24, 2026

An intriguing byproduct of the current vinyl renaissance, Record Store Day has become a proving ground for labels looking to balance archival reverence with commercial opportunity. Craft Recordings has carved out a particularly compelling niche, frequently issuing mono editions of classic titles from its catalog. Following previous releases featuring Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Max Roach, and ...