Baker had it all, rugged good looks, and a smooth as silk singing voice, and a sensitive ballad style on trumpet second only to Miles Davis, if not directly lifted from Davis..
Chet Baker could have been a household name, yet outside of jazz, he was more known for his dances with heroin and death, while being pursued by the long arm of the law than he was for his music, that is the sad fact.
I would consider myself a member of the baker cult, his vocals can be an acquired taste though.
The underrated trumpeter was actually a fine cool jazz and bop player, who even dabbled a little into the funk fusion realm, with albums to follow this one, that actually are quite good for the genre.
This album, She Was Too Good to Me, was a comeback album, that did have commercial aspirations, using pop elements like strings to augment the straight ahead jazz throughout, but don't worry, it's not overly syrupy at all.
Paul Desmond shows up for 2 tracks, "Autumn Leaves" and "Tangerine", Ron Carter from the Great second quintet of Miles Davis is on bass. Bob James plays piano and Don Sebesky arranged and conducted the album.
Chet Baker really did have matinee idol good looks, but by the time of this album, he looked as if he had been to hell and back, and indeed he had been.
He was in and out of rehabs and jail, with long stints away from music in a haze of drug induced debauchery.
Chet was not unlike Miles Davis in some respects, but Miles could bring it back from the cliff, and put a lid on the destructive behavior for the most part, and get back to building a career and setting the tone for the world of jazz.
Chet finally lost his battle with drugs in 1988: On May 13th he was found dead in the street underneath his second story hotel room in Amsterdam Netherlands. Chet was only 58.
This particular LP has become a nice record to have as it is one of the better late career albums Chet did, and the high quality supporting cast adds to the appeal. Altoist Paul Desmond himself would be dead only a few years after offering fine support on this recording.
All Photo from my own collection.
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