Chet Baker: Trumpeter of Cool

.

.

Any mention of jazz legend Chet Baker almost invariably focuses as much on his tumultuos life as it does on his music. That's a pity, really, because it takes nothing more than a casual listen of any of his recordings to realize that nobody epitomized West Coast Cool more than he did.

.

Fortunately, Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79 pays tribute to Chet Baker's talents. As part of theJazz Icons DVD series, this disc serves up two performances by the late trumpet player, which together, provide an intimate overview of his evolution.

.

In the first set, recorded for Belgian television in 1964, Baker plays flugelhorn through the entire session. He'd become enamored of its warmer sound some months before, after a French musician loaned him one after he'd lost his trumpet. (The details of how that happened are recounted in the liner notes, but aren't germaine to this review. We're focusing on Baker's music here.)

.

Augmented by Belgian saxophonist/fllautist Jacques Pelzer, French pianistRene Urtreger, and Italians Luigi Trussardi and Franco Manzecchi on bass and drums respectively, Baker's '64 TV gig is a study in cool. Taped in black and white (this was '64, after all) and extensively utilizing forehortened lighting angles, this studio set presents the quintet in a casual setting bereft of any distractions, including a live audience. What we get instead is a living room setting where five guys are just having a good time grooving to each other's riffs. The visuals are often amusingly quaint, whether it's the close-ups of the musicians studiously bobbing in time to the music, or the cigarette smoking wafting aimlessly among the horns.

.

But it's the music itself that draws us inexorably into Baker's world. And in this thirty minute set, Baker and his band stop at various locales in that world. From the light and airy rendition of "Bye Bye Black Bird" to the crooning vocals of Sammy Cahn's "Time After Time" to the cover of Miles Davis' "So What", the Belgian segment is tight, and nuanced so flawlessly that we're smitten by the power of cool jazz.

.

The 1979 Norway segment presents a more weathered and more evolved Baker, a musician who not only stayed abreast of the changes that had happened in the fifteen years since the Belgium performance, but helped to define them as well. Her, his trumpeting is backed up by musicians Wolfgang Lackerschmid on vibraphone, pianist Michel Graillier and bassist Jean Louis Rassinfosse on bass. Playing to a live audience, the drumerless quartet exemplifies the freeform experimentalism of the late seventies without completely abandoning Baker's West Coast Cool sound. The fifteen minute version of Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" ties the entire DVD together, particularly in those final moments when Baker's trumpet soars in a finale that speaks volumes about jazz. This is music borne of the soul.

.

Both performances are restored to pristine quality, as are all the titles in the Jazz Icons series. Also included is a glossy 16 page booklet featuring liner notes and a memorabilia collage. The Jazz Icon series is indispensable to anyone remotely interested in jazz, featuring as it does rare video performances from the greats.

.

Except for a 90 second interview clip, Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79 lets the music speak for itself. But it's the interview clip that may be most revealing about Chet Baker. When asked what kinds of music he likes, he replies, "All kinds. But not country. Not rock. And not pop." He proceeds to roll off a list of jazz musicians from Dizzy Gillespies to Miles Davis to Weather Report. He wasn't being flippant-- to Baker, that was all different kinds of music. And for over forty years, he showed us what he meant.

.