Search - Chet Baker :: Embraceable You

Embraceable Baker

mackjay | Cambridge, MA | 05/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection, along with "Chet Baker Sings" creates the feeling of inevitability: the first time it is heard, the listener tends to say "Why didn't I know about this before?" There is something so intimate, so stylized, yet so real about the way Baker sings. Perhaps it's a fortuitous combination of the kind of voice (not a GREAT instrument), the material itself, and the way he approaches it. To get a sense of this concept, consider "Little Girl Blue". Baker comes from inside the emotional world of the lyric, as though he has lived it himself, while the incredibly beautiful melody seems to speak a new language of its own. This collection is important for fans of the vocal-only Baker, since it will expose them to his trumpet playing. The singer derived his singing style from that of the instrument: they are two sides of this marvelous musician, and give a complete picture."

-across the sea of time

Barbara Seaman | 05/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My nephew, Henry, aged 13, gave me EMBRACEABLE YOU for my 64th birthday, assuming that since Chet and I were kinda the same generation I would be tickled to get these previously unreleased numbers. Henry didn't realize that I had no Baker in my music library. I'd vaguely enjoyed him in the 1950s but hadn't collected him. I was stunned and ecstatic and tremendously grateful to Henry. The world must be catching up with Chet because (Henry is a musician) many of the very young afficianados have discovered him big time. My only complaint is that the disc is fragile and already marred- I wish this were available on tape also. Does anyone know if it might be?"

Too Long Delayed

William B. Loughborough | Goldendale, WA USA | 03/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dick Bock recorded this and it stayed on a shelf for 40 years! It is the only significant recording of David Wheat whose guitar forms a lusher background than any orchestra ever did for the remarkable intimacy Chet conveys with voice and horn. I was very close to both men so might not be fully objective, but this is a truly incredible/hypnotic/addictive work.Love."