Chet Baker (1929–1988)

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".

Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: ''Chet Baker Sings'' (1954) and '' It Could Happen to You'' (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Early years

Baker was born and raised in a musical household in Yale, Oklahoma, on December 23, 1929. His father, Chesney Baker Sr., was a professional Western swing guitarist, and his mother, Vera Moser, was a pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother was Norwegian. Baker said that owing to the Great Depression, his father, though talented, had to quit as a musician and take a regular job. In 1940, when Baker was 10, his family relocated to Glendale, California.

Baker began his musical career singing in a church choir. His father, a fan of Jack Teagarden, gave him a trombone, which was replaced with a trumpet when the trombone proved too large. His mother said that he had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was given an instrument. After "falling in love" with the trumpet, he improved noticeably in two weeks. Peers called Baker a natural musician to whom playing came effortlessly.

Baker received some musical education at Glendale High School, but he left school at the age of 16 in 1946 to join the United States Army. He was assigned to Berlin, Germany, where he joined the 298th Army Band. While stationed in Berlin, he became acquainted with modern jazz by listening to V-Discs of Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton. After leaving the Army in 1948, he studied music theory and harmony at El Camino College. He dropped out during his second year to re-enlist. He became a member of the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco, spending time in clubs such as Bop City and the Black Hawk. He was discharged from the Army in 1951 and proceeded to pursue a career in music.

Career

Baker performed with Vido Musso and Stan Getz before being chosen by Charlie Parker for a series of West Coast engagements.

In 1952, Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and attracted considerable attention. Rather than playing identical melody lines in unison like Parker and Gillespie, Baker and Mulligan complemented each other with counterpoint and anticipating what the other would play next. "My Funny Valentine," with a solo by Baker, became a hit and was associated with Baker for the rest of his career. With the quartet, Baker was a regular performer at Los Angeles jazz clubs such as The Haig and the Tiffany Club.

In 1953, Mulligan was arrested and imprisoned on drug charges. Baker formed a quartet with a rotation that included pianist Russ Freeman, bassists Bob Whitlock, Carson Smith, Joe Mondragon, and Jimmy Bond, and drummers Larry Bunker, Bob Neel, and Shelly Manne.

Baker's quartet released popular albums between 1953 and 1956. Baker won reader's polls at ''Metronome'' and ''DownBeat'' magazines, beating trumpeters Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. In 1954, readers named Baker the top jazz vocalist. In 1954, Pacific Jazz Records released ''Chet Baker Sings'', an album that both increased his visibility and drew criticism. Nevertheless, Baker continued to sing throughout the rest of his career.

Baker, with his youthful, chiseled looks oft-photographed by William Claxton, and his cool demeanor that evoked breezy California playboy living, Baker became somewhat of a teen idol on top of being a respected, up-and-coming jazz musician. Hollywood studios saw movie star potential in Baker. He made his acting debut in the film ''Hell's Horizon'', released in the fall of 1955. He declined a studio contract, preferring life on the road as a musician.

Over the next few years, Baker led his own combos, including a 1955 quintet with Francy Boland, where Baker combined trumpet-playing and singing. In September 1955, he left for Europe for the first time, completing an eight-month tour and recording for the Barclay label that October. Some of these sessions were released in the United States as ''Chet Baker in Europe.'' While there, he also recorded a rare accompaniment for another vocalist: Caterina Valente playing guitar and singing " I'll Remember April" and "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye".

One month into the tour, pianist Dick Twardzik died of a heroin overdose. Despite this, Baker continued the tour, employing local pianists.

Returning to Los Angeles post-tour, Baker returned to recording for Pacific Jazz. His output included three collaborations with Art Pepper, including '' Playboys'', and the soundtrack to '' The James Dean Story''. Baker moved to New York City, where he collaborated again with Gerry Mulligan for the 1957 release '' Reunion with Chet Baker''. In 1958, Baker rejoined with Stan Getz for ''Stan Meets Chet''. That same year, he also released '' It Could Happen to You'', similar to ''Chet Baker Sings'', notable for featuring his scat singing skills in lieu of trumpet-playing. His last significant release before returning to Europe was '' Chet'', released by Riverside Records, featuring an all-star personnel that included pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, all associated with leading jazz trumpeter Miles Davis.

Drug addiction and decline

Soon after signing on with Riverside Records, Baker was arrested twice; the first arrest involving a stay at a Lexington hospital, then imprisonment at Riker's island for four months on drug charges. Baker said he began using heroin in 1957. However, author Jeroen de Valk and pianist Russ Freeman said that Baker started heroin in the early 1950s. Freeman was Baker's musical director after Baker left the Mulligan quartet. Sometimes Baker pawned his instruments to buy drugs.

In late 1959, Baker returned to Europe, recording in Italy what became known as the Milano sessions with arranger and conductor Ezio Leoni (Len Mercer) and his orchestra. Baker appeared as himself in the musicarello film, ''Howlers in the Dock''. Tabloids reviled Baker for his drug habit and reckless womanizing and infidelity. In August 1960, he was imprisoned in Lucca for importing narcotics, forging prescriptions, and drug abuse. This forced Leoni to communicate through the prison warden to coordinate arrangements with Baker as they prepared for recording.

Baker spent more than a year in jail, and was later expelled from Germany and the UK on drug-related offenses. He was deported to the U.S. from Germany for getting into trouble with the law a second time. He settled in Milpitas, California, performing in San Francisco and San Jose between jail terms for prescription fraud.

Baker's first release in 1962, after his Italian prison sentence, was ''Chet Is Back!'' for RCA, balancing ballads with energetic bop. That same year, Baker collaborated with Ennio Morricone in Rome for a series of orchestral pop records, recording four original songs that he had composed during his prison sentence: "Chetty's Lullaby", "So che ti perderò", "Motivo su raggio di luna", and "Il mio domani".

Baker returned to New York City in 1964. Throughout most of the 1960s, Baker played flugelhorn, and recorded music that could be classified as West Coast jazz. In 1964, he released ''The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964/65'' under Colpix Records, and in 1965 he released ''Baby Breeze. He then released five albums with Prestige, recorded in one week.

Baker fell behind on jazz's latest innovations. At the end of 1965, he returned to the Pacific label, recording six themed albums whose content veered from straight jazz towards uninspired, instrumental covers of contemporary pop songs arranged by Bud Shank. Baker himself was unhappy with the records, describing them as "simply a job to pay the rent." By this time, he had a wife and three children to support.

That summer, already having reached a low point in his career, Baker was beaten, probably while attempting to buy drugs, after performing at The Trident in Sausalito. In the film '' Let's Get Lost'', Baker said an acquaintance attempted to rob him, but backed off, only to return the next night with a group of men who chased him. He entered a car and was surrounded. Instead of rescuing him, the people inside the car pushed him back out onto the street, where the chase continued. He received cuts and several of his teeth were knocked out. This incident has been often misdated or otherwise said to be exaggerated partly because of his own unreliable testimony on the matter.

Regardless, the 1966 incident did lead to his teeth eventually deteriorating. By late 1968 or early 1969, he needed dentures. This ruined his embouchure, and he struggled to relearn how to play the trumpet and flugelhorn.

Baker claims that, for three years, he worked at a gas station until concluding that he had to find a way back to music and retrain his embouchure. Biographer Jeroen de Valk notes that Baker was still musically active after 1966, performing and occasionally recording. In April 1968, he provided flugelhorn for Bud Shank's ''Magical Mystery'' album. In 1969, he released ''Albert's House'', which features 11 compositions by Steve Allen, who organized the recording date to help Baker restart his career. In 1970, Baker released ''Blood, Chet and Tears