Chet Baker Sings

The complementary talents of Chet Baker (1929-1988), both as a trumpet player and as a singer, are now well known, and Will MacFarland's original liner notes for the 10-inch LP Chet Baker Sings, on which he compared Chet with Louis Armstrong, still seem quite appropriate. Both his trumpet and his voice seem to be extensions of the same musical personality, and once you've become familiar with both facets of Baker, you expect to hear them both. However, this album was a revelation at the time and brought Baker new fame and a new audience that was less familiar with jazz than with pop music. The reasons are quite clear: Chet's voice is tender and beautiful, and at the same time his phrasing always swings and surprises. This album was initially issued in 1954 as a 10-inch Long Play containing eight songs. It's success soon led to it being reissued as a 12" LP, with the addition of material from later 1956 sessions. On all of them Chet is backed by Russ Freeman on piano, who was a member of the trumpeter's regular group at the time. This edition presents all of the songs from the 12" LP plus one bonus track from the same period.