The first time I met Chet Baker, he was playing at a little neighborhood club called Strykers on 97th & Columbus Avenue on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He was coming back after years of an extended period of absence, having diligently devoted himself to re-learning to play trumpet with dentures, which everybody told him could not be done. But he persevered and prevailed, and this was one of his first comeback gigs. Awesome! I never heard any trumpet sound like that! I don't think it could ever be captured on a recording: So intimate tender innovative & personal...sometimes just whispering & breathing infinite silence space&timelessness into his trumpet...He just loved music & making music so deeeeeeeeeply & innately: just making the purest finest most beautiful sounds and blissful ethereal effects. Chet Baker was truly a great Maestro of the highest degree, a natural-born precocious musical genius like Mozart! During the break I came up to Chet to thank & enthusiastically congratulate him. In my over-enthusiasm I started telling Chet how much I also dug & admired & had been imitating his singing for years, and automatically went into my little imitation of him singing “I Wish I Knew” till I caught myself & felt embarrassed & silly & said,“Oh no! Here I am doing my Chet Baker imitation for Chet Baker!” He just smiled & said “You don't look old enough to remember that record.” (1955 LP called “Chet Baker Sings & Plays") He looked gaunt & emaciated, almost like a derelict. But his voice and manner were very polite mellow kind & refined, sensitive gentle very personable sweet good-natured & very likable, casual cultured & very well-bred. I asked him if he would sing during his second-set after the break. He thanked me for asking but apologized & explained why he really couldn't because he was working with just a bassist & drummer & no piano... He excused himself when his band-mates summoned him to prepare for their second set. There were just a few other people at that very small dimly-lit cellar club that night. My date was a nice girl who had the same last name as me though we were otherwise unrelated, I barely remember her, but we were both blown-away by Chet! When Chet came back from the break, he opened his set singing “Just Friends” Bless his heart! Still feels good that he honored my request & was singing just for me! His singing always kinda reminds me of Alfalfa from “Our Gang” I still listen to Chet's music almost every day now, often listening to him continually all day long, and when I try listening to something else for a change, I find myself missing his familiar soothing sound which is so much an integral part of me, I find myself unable to listen to anything else & hafta sink right back into that sweet fine&mellow transcendent celestial atmosphere he creates so effortlessly & endlessly... PS: I had given Chet my business card that night, and to my surprise & amazement-first thing in the morning--he called me! But that's another story for another time now...

@gonzzoa4605

8 жыл бұрын

+Ronnie Kahn Thank you very much for sharing your story! Man I feel exactly the same about his music, he was such a genius... his style was so natural and charming, and never too sweet. What happened when he called you?? Please tell haha

@markdonohue7744

8 жыл бұрын

Play on player

@gabirusky.

7 жыл бұрын

why did he called you? nice story thank you for sharing

@yunhyeokchoi2004

7 жыл бұрын

still waiting for the next one!

@lailakhankhan90

7 жыл бұрын

How lucky to have lived such a memorable experience. I perfectly understand that you can only listen to the greatest of them all, Chet - both his singing as playing the trumpet absolutely sublime as if coming from the heavens.. I am moved to tears listening to him, can never get enough either...

Chet had a quality (among many) of being able -- one might almost say courageous or retrained/ patient -- to allow space into his solos. Lots of space. There are moments where he lets an incredible number of beats go by before he re-enters. It makes for an exquisite balance and "open air" feel to his solos. Many of his colleagues over the years felt a compulsion to play as many notes as possible in as short a time as possible, believing that's what makes a solo fantastic. Quite the opposite.

@imbees2

Жыл бұрын

Chet played with the musicians, it was a flow, an unconscious beat amongst the musicians. That's jazz. They didn't "allow, balance or open air (whatever that means). Chet and his band mates played simultaneously their music, in concert and synchrony, with no mind or reason explanation. Thats how jazz musicians perform.

@nyterpfan

7 ай бұрын

YES!! BEAUTIFULLY expressed--he had such a gift for being so effortlessly in the moment! Not one excess note--"elegantly sparse."

This version is sublime.

This IS music. There is nothing like this today. Thank goodness for these memories. Greed has now overtaken art.

@emo-sup-sock

Жыл бұрын

Jazz is alive and well. Both NY and London have *very* active jazz scenes doing excellent music. Try Emmet Cohen's trio: kzread.info/dash/bejne/hnymsbCHYMqqfZs.html Or Moses Boyd: kzread.info/dash/bejne/aIegts2PZLizgKw.html

@seattlevegas66

Жыл бұрын

By jove, I stand corrected!!! Thank you for the links. I have been following Emmet for quite some time, but have found little else. And with Samara Joy winning a Grammy, I sure hope there is a resurgence.

@emo-sup-sock

Жыл бұрын

@@seattlevegas66 Give the London scene a shot! Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Shabaka Hutchings (his project, Shabaka & The Ancestors is marvelous), Binker & Moses, tons of good stuff! In fact, jazz is going through a sort of revival right now. It's much, much more popular now than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

The presence, relativity, wonderful music of jazz never dies, no matter how old the recording is. Relevant today as it was back then in the 50s or 60s.

I had never herd of Chet Baker growing up. Jazz is not big in New Zealand. However I found a CD of his in a bargin bin at a music shop in Wellington New Zealand. Brought it, went back to my Hotel Room, dropped some Acid and Listened to it for hours. It was AWESOME!

@unSTEVOED

9 жыл бұрын

..........put me and my mates in such a happy buzz!

@glenrose7925

5 жыл бұрын

Beautiful. Similar thing happened for with Erroll Garner on the beach in Sant Cruz, California. I dig Chet loke the most.

@carltwidle9046

Жыл бұрын

You didn't need the acid to enjoy Chet Baker.

@MrBongoagogo

Жыл бұрын

That's complete shite jazz is big in old nz

@unSTEVOED

Жыл бұрын

@@MrBongoagogo Really? What venues / radio stations play jazz on the regular?

Astonishing talent we need jazz clubs again!!!!

I love to listen to this "happier" side of his work, it's so refreshing

Almost 50 years old and still as fresh as ever! Jazz really does live!! Brilliant!!

I loved Chet Baker, he is a genius.

Chet on flugelhorn at this set in Belgium. He played in Europe more than here at home. Their gain, our loss, but we have these great recordings to listen to now, thanks to you for posting them!

He showes a clear, simple and elegant phrasing. It is a fundamental teachig for all musicians. Thank you Chet!

@imbees2

Жыл бұрын

Teaching fundamentals is teaching, playing the fundamentals in this way, is the genius of a person that understands the fundamentals inherently, doesn't have to think about them, and hears in his head the music he wants to project. And plays music that no one else ever thought of, while "teaching fundamentals"!

@thehomingbeacon4410

Жыл бұрын

@@imbees2 I agree with you! In my language, "teaching fundamentals" Is different From "fundamental teaching". l should have said: " Basic teaching", referring to the elegance phrasing. Thank you for answer and for this opportunity to write (and revise) foreign lenguage!

It's been 3 months since I've found this gem. I just cannot get this piano solo out of my head ever since. Everything is so on point from all these cats

@imbees2

Жыл бұрын

When somebody says, "these cats". I know. I know.

@imbees2

Жыл бұрын

baby now!

@ConDaddyPop

Жыл бұрын

@@imbees2 what’s needed?

Bass player is wonderful!

I know Mile's liked Chet and often played with him. The epitome of west coast cool.

My grandfather was a trumpet player in a jazz orchestra in Lisbon that hosted Josephine Baker. When I was a child, he told me he had stopped playing because he had lost his teeth. He left me his trumpet, along with sheet music, but above all he instilled in me a taste for music. Later, a friend from my youth showed me Chet Baker records. Today I love this music more than ever.

@nicomth55

Жыл бұрын

Chet baker too lost his tooth but he learned a second time how to play trumpet

@flavioferreira5924

Жыл бұрын

​@@nicomth55 Yes, that´s impressive.

Very cool. Chet's note choice and time as always is impeccable.

This group got it going on, I must say.

One of my Top three trumpet players that I can listen to everyday

@jaimegonzalez1163

7 жыл бұрын

UrMomsHusband other 2?

@Faustomollini

7 жыл бұрын

I would guess Miles Davis and John Coltrane

@somedude8403

7 жыл бұрын

Jaime Gonzalez, Woody Shaw and Wynton Marsalis. Next would probably be Maynard Fergusons big bad.

@malcorub

7 жыл бұрын

Coltrane played the Sax!

@dividad1

6 жыл бұрын

Oh my lord Coltrane did not play the fucking trumpet. Get learned on your jazz boy

Impressive. Strange that they forgot to name the saxophonist at the end : Jacques Pelzer, who plays a very inspired tune.

@mrpeel3239

4 жыл бұрын

I really liked Pelzer's solo. A master of his instrument.

When I hear Chet playing , it seems he plays a story , so much to say and still I dont know the whole story and each time I discover more. It must be an endless book

Chet Baker will always be Poetic and Haunting!

What Chet is playing at the beginning is just so unique. He was so much ahead of his time. He always had other ideas. But I guess you can tell his focus has already gone a bit due to the drug use. However his timing was still immaculate and this is all that matters. Why was Keith Richards so great? Because he was never rushed, not as a teenager, nor as a Grandfather.This is the most imporant lesson in life - dont ever let anything rush you., whether in music, sports (tennis is one best example), love, business life. And those who expressed this and entertained that way stood out - at least to me.

@celebrityauthor7942

8 жыл бұрын

+Axel Baumgarten people are always in a rush to get nowhere, the above is such an important piece of wisdom.

@dodec8449

8 жыл бұрын

+Axel Baumgarten thanks for this comment

@luizmarcondesmusica

7 жыл бұрын

yeah I get my wisdom from random strangers on KZread. Seems like the sensible thing to do.

@dodec8449

7 жыл бұрын

so?

@nmontenegro4627

6 жыл бұрын

Perfect words!

Chet Baker un enorme referente de la trompeta en el Jazz!

chets music will always be with us

Chet was "Cool Player"! Real soul! RIP Chet! Thank you for the wonderful music you left behind!

Terrific playing by Rene, in fact by all. Some of the best jazz I've heard...It hits the parts that others can't reach..

Wow....what a classic!!!! Chet is awesome...the fluglehorn is so sad....but he is great...wherever you are God bless you...

They're locked in. I could listen to these four men for an eternity and not get bored. Each one brings something to the table.

My son is 1 year old and 7 months, and he sleeps every day with Chet's music! He loves it!!

I can listen to Chet for hours at a time “ Funny Valentine “ in Japan my favorite.

@ghart56

5 жыл бұрын

ditto

All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.

During the early 1960s I lived and worked in Naples, Italy. I recall Chet Baker being deported. Later, while on holiday in Paris, I learned he was playing at a club, the name of which translated into something like the fishing cat. He was playing flugelhorn. The only other musicians were a drummer and trombone player. After the first tune the drummer split. Then a duet with Chet subbing with brushes on a piano stool. Then the trombone player split and Chet shortly after. I finished my beer and likewise split.

Wow, never heard this version before and it rocks big time!

Maravelous CHET! Trussardi is fantastic too! I love bass!

Excellent! J’avais vu Chet Baker à Paris en 1986, inoubliable. Mention spéciale ici à René Urtreger.

Wonderfull

Ooooh wow! This is gold!

Ein absolutes "must" für Jazz-Freund oder der es werden will. Chet Baker ist der Großmeister des soften Jazz. Erotisch, traurig und inspirativ. Keiner konnte es bisher besser. Es ist wie klassische Musik, man kann es immer hören.

@michaelvogt-gitarre9096

9 жыл бұрын

Du sprichst mir aus dem Herzen, keiner konnte es bisher besser... Danke You don't know what love is.... sogar ganz besonders....

Chet Baker. Só Whate. Como sempre, Maravilhoso !

Espetacular!

wow...this is climax in jazz...what a beat! RIP Chet

This is so cool,can see why my dad was so into jazz

my boy chet always dropping bangers

So What... fantastic!

magnifique infiniment Top

oh yeah, this is bomb Chet~~~

Musica eh Amor, Puro.... MAsterpiece

Home boy on the piano, got it going on big time!!!!

Thanks so much!!! A gem!!! So grateful for these rare videos of Chet!!!

I like this tune very much :) Thanks for sharing.

what a great film,never knew chet recorded this,lovely bit of jazz,thanks for the upload.

thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, beautiful!

is great chet baker wonderfull video

Fantástic magic and cool when Chet Baker played. .genial. Manaus Amazonas Brasil.

I remember i saw chet in san francisco in the mid- eightees. I've loved his artistry all my life...i remember walking into the club and sitting down front and center. When he started playing i was stunned by his sound. I dont think it has ever been captured on a recording. It was the most beautiful sound i had ever heard!

¡¡ BRILLANTE ¡¡¡

GENIOS!

Smooth as smooth can be...

love Jazz love being allone love playing the guitar love love and so what!!!

really like this group. and the recording very even and low vibe.

Love the Sax player, wow..All the muzo’s here a fantastic👌🏽👍🏾🎸🎶🥇

thats probably my favorite live ever

I love Chet Baker. He's the greatest Jazz musician of all time.

The drummer with those kicks!!!! LOVE IT!!!

This song is on the fine "Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79" Jazz Icons DVD. The '64 session recorded in Belgium; '79 session in Norway.

@Friskounet Thanks for the up-load , play it again and again, love Chet, special old film of him. lekkere jazz!!! (dutch)

Really Love this, Great Vibe Great Playing

@theneovas1

7 жыл бұрын

buska100 ,

unique trump3t sound so cool relaxing

This is really good. Very nice surprise

He is an unbelievable musician!

VERY VERY COOL WHAT A TALENT!

Listening this on my terrace with a whiskey after a hard work on Sunday. Heals the wounds in an instance.

Rene U. awesome here as always!!!

What a great version of "So What" by Chet, also dutch Jacques does a fine job on the sax annd Rene on the piano... lsitenend for the ? time, again and again. Fine JAZZ..

I love bop!

What a ride! Surf and glide!

OMG, My favorite Miles Davis piece played by my favorite trumpet player, how didnt i fin this earlier?

play it Chet!!!

tremendous version of SO WHAT

Chet was just so..."there." I don't know how else to describe it! He was never a screecher wailing away....no need to do ANY of that! I can't think of any jazz artist that was just so effortlessly in the moment. Nobody quite like him before or since!

Very nice tune. Of course Chet's trumpet is warm and goes under the skin. But René Urtreger , Luigi Trussardi and Franco Manzecchi play skillfully too.

@gastonbluesman6705

11 ай бұрын

Is Jaques Pelzer in Sax !!

@imbees2

10 ай бұрын

for sure, the other musicians are on the money, skillful. and in tune

what a performance

Good Feeling! 💘

Thats got to be one of the coolest sax solos Ive ever heard

here we go

The purest jazz

For quiet sitting in meditation No need for a place by a mountain stream; When the mind is entirely extinguished Even the fire is cool and refreshing.

great music

Jazz Icons dvd's :)

nice theme ..Perfecto All Together piano and sax and flugelhorn and bas ...thanks !!

@thanasisKrispis

9 жыл бұрын

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Le grand Chet Baker, le James Dean, le Rimbaud de la trompette, l'ange annonciateur comme l'ange à la trompette de Fra Angelico . Oui la musique du beau Chet est sacrée, son souffle est sacré car c'est aussi sa vie qu'il souffle avec ses blessures , ses amours, ses joies, son mouvement de vie . Ne pas oublier aussi sa voix, unique, androgyne, sensuelle, romantique , pleine de douceur déchirante, cotonneuse, qui ressemble tellement au timbre de sa trompette. Sa voix et sa trompette ne font qu'un comme deux gouttes d'eau qui se fondent en une . LA MEME ÂME. LE MËME FEU DE CHAQUE JOUR. Il vient de loin ce vent cuivré chargé d'une musique universelle, ce coeur gonflé d'amour. Une caresse pour l'âme, Un baume pour l'esprit. Elle vient de loin cette voix, cette source de vie de l'enfance éternelle. Il vient de loin ce silence habité, cette fragilité pleine de force d'amour, ce feu sans artifice, ce feu de l'origine, cette astre sonore, et, comme toute voix sacrée, elle continuera de briller encore longtemps pour nous monter la voie, la seule qui vaille et que chacun à sa mesure doit trouver dans son propre mystère d'être au monde. Bien à vous. Patrick Geffroy Yorffeg

@jacqueshogge1608

Жыл бұрын

Je découvre ce jour votre commentaire et le partage pleinement. Magnifique trompettiste qui interprète ici un morceau d'au autre monument Miles Davis

Cool!

All I can say is, Wow!"

Thank you!

I think that this music has to return to this generation

Yes. Wow.

Очень интересная версия so what, думаю что Майлс очень внимательно относился к творчеству Чета. Здесь настоящий cool, Майкл играл эту вещь в стиле модального джаза.Мне например эта версия нравится больше.

Mr. Baker's horn "dirty" horn is a nice contrast to the rest of the performance. Thank you for this.

Et dire que cette version a plus de 50 ans, quelle belle leçon, avec en plus CHET au bugle.