Born On This Day... Favorite Musician Chet Baker

Not gay, but absolutely one of my most important musical figures in my considerable lifetime is Chesney Henry Baker, Jr., a trumpet player & singer with matinee idol beauty, emotionally remote performances, & a well publicized drug habit.

In 1952, Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, which was an instant phenomenon. The Quartet's version of My Funny Valentine, featuring a memorable Baker solo, was a major hit, and became a song with which Baker was intimately associated.


The Quartet found success quickly, but lasted less than a year because of Mulligan's arrest and imprisonment on drug charges. In 1953, Pacific Jazz released Chet Baker Sings. In the year I was born, 1954, Baker won the Downbeat Jazz Poll. Because of his chiseled good looks, Hollywood studios approached Baker & he made his acting debut in the film Hell's Horizon, in 1955. He declined an offer of a studio contract, preferring life on the road as a musician. Over the next few years, He became an icon of the West Coast jazz sound, helped by his good looks & singing talent.


Baker was a heroin user since the 1950s, & eventually saw his musical career decline as a result. At times, Baker pawned his instruments for money to maintain his drug habit. In the early 1960s, he served more than a year in prison in Italy on drug charges; he was later expelled from Germany & Britain for drug related offenses. He settled in Northern California where he played music in San Francisco between short jail terms served for prescription fraud. In 1966, Baker was severely beaten after a gig in San Francisco, sustaining severe cuts on the lips & broken front teeth. From that time he had to learn to play with dentures.


In the 1970s, Baker returned to Europe. From 1978 until his death, Baker resided & played almost exclusively in Europe, returning to the USA roughly once per year for a few performance dates. From 1978 to 1988 was Baker's most prolific era as a recording artist.


In 1983, another of my favorite artists, Elvis Costello, a longtime fan of Baker, hired the trumpet player to play a solo on his song Shipbuilding, from the album Punch the Clock. The song was a top 40 hit & exposed Baker's music to a new audience. Later, Baker often featured Costello's song Almost Blue in his live sets, and recorded the song on Let's Get Lost, a documentary film about his life.





In the early morning of May 13, 1988, Baker was found dead on the street below his 2nd story room of Hotel Prins Hendrik in Amsterdam. Heroin & cocaine were found in his hotel room. His death was ruled an accident.


To get to know this amazing musician try Let's Get Lost, which shows him as a cultural icon of the 1950s, but juxtaposes this with his later image as a drug addict. The film, directed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber, & shot in black & white, includes a series of interviews with friends, associates & lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life, & with interviews with Baker from his last years.


With a breathy, walking-on-eggshells trumpet tone similar to the sound & achy, whisper, weathered & weary vocals, Baker delivers piercing takes on a number of standards: Just Friends, My Funny Valentine. Elvis Costello joins Baker on blue embered versionss of The Very Thought of You & You Don’t Know What Love Is. Baker recorded over 50 albums. Everyone should have at least 1 Chet Baker CD in their collection. I recommend- Chet Baker Sings (1953) & Chet Baker Sings & Plays (1963).