Chet Baker Sings

When the 24-year old “cool jazz” trumpeter started his vocal career in 1954, his singing was revolutionary; as delicate and clear as his trumpet playing with a similarly bright and vibrato-free tone, Baker simply didn’t sound like any previous jazz singer. Baker offers here the most memorable recorded versions of some of these standards, starting with the intoxicating “My Funny Valentine,” which would remain in his repertoire for the rest of his life. The magic of this album resides in what it suggests about the trumpeter’s own paradoxes, his insecurity and shyness, his fire and fragility, and the part of shadow and hidden tragedy behind his Hollywood-like beauty and his apparent effortless genius, all of which have made him one of the most fascinating musicians in jazz history. Watch a documentary on Chet Baker here.

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