Digging Into Craft Recordings' 2021 Chet Baker Vinyl Reissues - Something Else! Reviews

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The myth of jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker sometimes overshadows the extraordinary body of work he has left behind. Often associated with cool West Coast-jazz, Baker died in 1988 at age 58, after long periods of drug and alcohol abuse.

Four new 180-gram vinyl Craft Recordings reissues of albums that Baker recorded for the New York-based Riverside label, with a supporting cast of players associated with the East Coast jazz crowd, are not to be missed.

While the jazz audiophile community has been delighting in the multiple Blue Note vinyl reissues and the Acoustic Sounds Verve label releases have also been getting similar attention, hopefully these four Craft releases will not be overlooked. The Baker reissues share some of the same characteristics as in the aforementioned in terms of mastering engineer (Kevin Gray at Coherent Audio), pressing plant (RTI) and faithful duplication of original packaging.

The four late-’50s-era recordings – (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet (The Lyrical Trumpet of Chet Baker) and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe – were originally reissued in August 2019 in the now out-of-print Craft box set Chet, which also included a bonus disc, cut from digital files, of alternate versions and outtakes, along with a booklet. They’re now available individually at a $25 list price.

At this point in his career, Chet Baker had established himself primarily as part of Gerry Mulligan’s piano-less quartet and beat out none other than Miles Davis in various jazz polls as best trumpet player. Appearing through the courtesy of his label World Pacific, Baker’s first album for Riverside, (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, was released in 1958. It is the only album of the four here not produced by Riverside label founder Orin Keepnews and features two bass players and two drummers – including Philly Joe Jones, who was essentially the house drummer at Riverside and part of Miles Davis’ legendary Kind of Blue sessions.

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The late-1950s were a key moment in jazz with the release of Kind of Blue, along with Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Mingus Ah Um from Charles Mingus, and The Shape of Jazz to Come from Ornette Coleman. (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You is a lush, romantic outing that focuses on Chet Baker, the singer.

There is still plenty of his dazzling, moody and mellow trumpet, but it’s Baker’s vocals that make the album such a winner. Other than Louis Armstrong and George Benson, arguably, no other jazz instrumentalist was as equally successful as a singer than Baker.

Chet Baker in New York, recorded a few weeks after Chet Baker Sings, is a more energetic affair and gives the musicians – including Johnny Griffin on tenor sax – more opportunities to stretch out in sometimes experimental directions. It is the most New York, East-Coast, jazz-sounding of these four reissues.

On 1959’s Chet (The Lyrical Trumpet of Chet Baker), the sound is lush and mellow again, with a larger supporting cast of jazz heavyweights – including Bill Evans on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Herbie Mann on flute, Connie Kay on drums and Pepper Adams on baritone sax, all of whom take turns on different tracks. It’s thrilling listening to these jazz giants in such a relaxed environment.

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Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe, also released in 1959, might be the most pleasantly surprising of these four reissues. While the first three albums, particularly Chet Baker In New York, on first listen afford Baker and his sidemen, including Mann and Adams, the chance to experiment and stretch out, this collection of Broadway cover tunes is the most engaging.

There are some production quirks of the original recordings that sometimes find Baker getting lost on his own session. Zoot Sims and Adams nearly also nearly steal the show, but there are few jazz records of the period that make better use of interpreting such well-worn standards.

These reissues are truly excellent and may even sound clearer and quieter than any previous releases on vinyl, including the original albums. Often, audiophiles prefer mono issues of these kinds of vintage recordings, but the stereo versions here sound spatially dynamic.

Chet Baker was one of the true rock stars of jazz, long before there ever were rock stars. While one or two of these reissues could be considered among his best works, it’s the quality and care put into these four as a whole that will make them must-haves for the serious jazz audiophile.

Steve Matteo is the author of 'Let It Be' (Bloomsbury) and 'Dylan' (Sterling), and has written for such publications as the New York Times and Rolling Stone. Follow him on Twitter @MatteoMedia. Contact Something Else! at reviewsb[email protected]