I came across the following three Chet Baker video clips yesterday. If you're familiar with them, they're worth another look. If not, you're in for a treat. What's fascinating to me is his smoldering intensity and passion. Also haunting is how similar he and Elvis Presley looked in 1956, though Baker appears more morose and a lot less self-confident, albeit much more poetic.
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the 1964 pianist René Uetreger is still alive and playing- very well- I saw him performing last year. The bassist luigi trussardi is still playing too, I saw him a couple of years ago with the great Barry Harris in Paris.
1) The Rome clip is somehow flopped. Both the tenor player's and bassist's hands are reversed.
2) The Torino clip also features the great Swedish baritone player Lars Gullin (1928-76), who like Baker (and for similar reasons) was ultimately ill-fated.
Check out on YouTube the clips from Chet's 1987 Tokyo concert, with pianist Harold Danko, bassist Hein van de Geyn, and drummer John Engels. As much as I like early Chet, he was (contrary to much received opinion) arguably at his best in his final decade. Top notch, too, are the albums "Diane" (with Paul Bley) and "Chet's Choice" (with Philip Catherine), both on Steeplechase from 1985.
Larry is right! Chet is in much better form on the Tokyo clips than on those above (better a/v quality as well). He also benefits from a regular band instead of pickup groups (note the tentative ending on the Rome clip for example.) The 2 cd set of "Chet Baker in Tokyo" (from which these clips come) is one of his very best, as is the "Chet's Choice" album. (Of course Chet was very erratic, so there are good and bad albums from all periods.)
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Marc Myers writes frequently on music and the arts for the Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (University of California Press). In 2012, JazzWax was named the Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year."
the 1964 pianist René Uetreger is still alive and playing- very well- I saw him performing last year. The bassist luigi trussardi is still playing too, I saw him a couple of years ago with the great Barry Harris in Paris.
Posted by: jp gelbon | June 20, 2011 at 08:37 AM
1) The Rome clip is somehow flopped. Both the tenor player's and bassist's hands are reversed.
2) The Torino clip also features the great Swedish baritone player Lars Gullin (1928-76), who like Baker (and for similar reasons) was ultimately ill-fated.
3) The "So What" clip is a half-step sharp.
Posted by: Bill Kirchner | June 20, 2011 at 11:15 AM
Great horn-solos from the young Chet---a treat to hear!
Posted by: Mike Harris | June 20, 2011 at 03:09 PM
Check out on YouTube the clips from Chet's 1987 Tokyo concert, with pianist Harold Danko, bassist Hein van de Geyn, and drummer John Engels. As much as I like early Chet, he was (contrary to much received opinion) arguably at his best in his final decade. Top notch, too, are the albums "Diane" (with Paul Bley) and "Chet's Choice" (with Philip Catherine), both on Steeplechase from 1985.
Posted by: Larry Kart | June 20, 2011 at 08:06 PM
Larry is right! Chet is in much better form on the Tokyo clips than on those above (better a/v quality as well). He also benefits from a regular band instead of pickup groups (note the tentative ending on the Rome clip for example.) The 2 cd set of "Chet Baker in Tokyo" (from which these clips come) is one of his very best, as is the "Chet's Choice" album. (Of course Chet was very erratic, so there are good and bad albums from all periods.)
Posted by: David | June 21, 2011 at 02:13 AM
Re Larry Kart's excellent suggestion, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOEIQKczRPY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB1Lr6HBbu0&feature=related
Posted by: Bill Kirchner | June 21, 2011 at 10:44 AM