Discussion Forums - Jazz

hi,

i just enjoyed chet baker's - my funny valentine album and would like to try another of his but with over 100 in the system i don't know which one is considered his best work - i would like to jump to the top of his heap rather than stumble around in dozens of chet baker discs  :)

thanks for any suggestions  - patrick   bossajake

fyi - i like to trade for jazz cds i can try out, i have over 2500 cds in my tower so if you have jazz of any kind for trade and see something in my tower that you'd trade for let me know.  :)

I know it's been over a year since this was asked, but just in case this might help someone...

The most enjoyable and rewarding Chet Baker recordings of all, IMO, are those he did for the Pacific Jazz label in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.  Even though Mulligan was the official leader, Baker's role was extremely crucial to the group.  One of the things that makes these recordings so unique for their time (the early '50s) was that there was no piano in the group, so Mulligan and Baker's playing was freer harmonically.  It's not "free jazz," of course, though.

Anyway, there are many different releases of this material.  The Pacific Jazz recordings in recent years have been owned by Blue Note (EMI).  The one I own, which is very complete, is this one:

http://www.swapacd.com/cd/album/155589-original+mulligan+quartet

It's a two-disc set, and I don't know how long the wait for it might be.  Note that this is a 2-disc set containing 42 tracks.  The track list only has 12 titles, but this is not correct.  Amazon.com's page for this release has the same error.

One more Baker recommendation:  a wider overview of his career (including his vocals) is in a set called Prince of Cool.  I actually got my copy of this set through SACD, so the good stuff does show up!

-Gregory

Ditto the recommendation of the Mulligan Quartet stuff, but Chet occasionally reached the same heights in his later years.  It's a chore to separate the wheat from the chaff since he made so many records, but I think Chet Baker in Tokyo (recorded in 1987) is the best thing he ever did.  It's a two-disc set now out of print, with three members currently wishing.  I'd get in line now.  There's also a DVD if you can find it.

I personally like the "Chet Baker Sings" CD.

Chet Baker: Career provides a nice overview of his best work.