Chet Baker is one of the most well-known names in Jazz. A trumpeter and vocalist, Chet is a bit more cultural icon than canonized Jazz master…though he plays well. His is not the story of triumph over adversity. It is the story of the rise and fall of a star.
Chet in the 50s was a good looking young man; the Hollywood image of what a Jazz musician was. He was also an icon of cool at the level of James Dean. I don’t have the figures, but at the time I do believe Chet sold a lot more records than the Brown-Roach Quintet or Miles Davis. He also fell into the pit of hell we call Heroin addiction.
Chet came back in the 80s and even was the subject for a documentary that I assume many folks have seen, “Let’s Get Lost”. The doc was released at the end of 1988 a few months after Chet died. Chet never defeated the demon Heroin. Most seem to say he never cared to do so.
Greetings and welcome to my weekly bloggings about Jazz. I do my best to publish a diary about Jazz and its related genres every Sunday evening around 10pm EST. Comments are welcome.
Chet Baker was born on December 23, 1929 in Yale, Oklahoma, and died in Amsterdam on May 13, 1988. Chet embodies several stereotypes and constructions about Jazz musicians. He is the cultural icon that failed. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were make-up people on the Ed Sullivan Show or The Tom Jones Show in the late 60s who would lecture Jim Morrison or Keith Richards or Janis Joplin about how difficult Chet Baker was…and how gorgeous.
Chet Baker, like Stan Getz, Emily Remler, Art Pepper, Anita O’Day, Red Rodeny, Charlie Haden, Lou Levy, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Pass, Dick Twardzick, Bill Evans and so many other Jazz musicians…maybe even (though this is unverified and, if true, was only for a short period) Chick Corea, was addicted to heroin. Addicts vary, and certainly some of the names in this paragraph are stories of overcoming and triumph, but Chet’s is the true story of how heroin can f*ck everything up and how if you don’t stop, it will kill you.
Chet did time in the army in the 40s and he began performing regularly while stationed near San Fransisco. By around 1950 or so, Chet began playing in groups with Gerry Mulligan and with Stan Getz. Chet was very much a part of the scene called “Cool Jazz” or “West Coast Jazz.” “Cool Jazz” is oft said to have begun with Miles Davis’ nonet which included Mulligan and produced the famed “Birth of the Cool” recordings at the end of the 1940s. “Cool Jazz” is in some ways a reaction to be-bop. It is less frenetic and intense. Chet fits into this style as his playing is very melodic.
The way Chet told it, there was an open call audition for trumpet players to play the west coast with Charlie Parker. This was 1952. At least 40 trumpet players were there to play for Bird. But Bird knew Chet’s name and only after 2 or 3 players he asked if Chet was there. Chet ran up and played for Bird and Charlie Parker then thanked everyone for coming and hired Chet. Chet says someone probably alerted Bird to Chet beforehand…I bet Chet was suggested because he looked good.
Chet's look and legitimate talent combined with Bird's blessing and approval shot him to the forefront of the Jazz scene.
Lady Bird 1953 with Gerry Mulligan
What was “cool” in the early 50s? The best selling hit in 1951 or so was “If I knew you were coming I’ld have baked a cake.” That ain't "cool". The big bands were still cool, though their era was over. But Stan Kenton was still around and cool. Frank Sinatra was cool. And remember, Benny Goodman and Gene Kupra were very cool...and social progressives. What is cool in the early 50s is Jazz. And Chet Baker embodies what Hollywood thinks a jazz musician should be. He plays trumpet, he looks fantastic and is photogenic. And he can sing.
Time after Time
Someone to watch over me
Chet’s star rose fast in the 50s. It’s a little vague as to when he starts to use heroin within all of this. I’ve seen it written for 57. “Let’s Get Lost” implies it happens a little earlier, but also states he was smoking weed by 1950. Stan Getz was certainly using when he recorded with Chet in 1953.
Half Nelson
The Way You Look Tonight
Chet frequently records with pianist Russ Freeman at this point.
You Don’t Know What Love Is
Chet was also touring Europe by 1955. He replaced Russ Freeman with Bostonian pianist Dick Twardzick.
But not for me
Dick didn’t make it back to the states from that tour, dying overseas from an overdose. I find it hard to believe Chet wasn’t using by this point.
Someone to watch over me
In 1955 that Chet had his big screen debut. This clip is actually from “Let’s Get Lost” so you can hear Chet talk about being in the army in the narration.
But…..Hollywood gives us other insights to the Chet Baker phenomenon in 1955.
Because this came out….
And so did this…
You don’t have to investigate Chet Baker for more than a minute before you stumble across a quote calling him “Sinatra, James Dean, and Bix Biederbek all rolled into one.” And think for a moment…in 1954 and 1955, what music artists might James Dean have listened to? James Dean was only 13 months younger than Chet.
In 1956 he’s back for a few more with Russ Freeman
Lush Life
We really should think of Chet as an early symbol for the American counter culture. We oft look at James Dean as beginning a youth culture movement that is intertwined with rock and roll. That isn’t false, but what “Rebel Without a Cause” does is challenge the predominant conformist attitude within society and begins to reveal the reality and paradoxes in trying to embrace the society the “Don Draper's” say we should have. Chet Baker is the trickster interjected into the machine. For the jazz fans living and breathing their Stan Kenton and Stan Getz records, reading downbeat and poetry, pretending to be beatnicks or artists or cool ad men….Chet is the star. Not an actor, but a musician with actor looks and a sad sensitive singing voice. But still conveying that "I know what is really going on here" spirit. One can imagine Holden Caulfield adoring the early Chet Baker.
But that same “machine” that anointed Eninem is the same machine that anointed Benny Goodman. That machine needs stars that it can sell, that it can put on TV. It made Chet Baker a star and maybe it made Art Pepper one too. Art is a lesser known story, but one quite similar to Chet’s…with more jail time. And when you think about how the “counter culture” emerges and the relevance of Playboy magazine, it should be no surprise their 1956 record is called The Playboys.
Most of the tunes are written by Jimmy Heath. The album was released and called A Picture of Heath
I’ll do a diary on Art Pepper eventually. His is an interesting story and I think he plays better than Chet.
It’s also worth noting that Chet married his second wife, Halemma Alli, in 1956. He first got married to Charlene Souder in 1950. It’s unclear to me when he divorced his first wife…or his second. His first son is by his second wife.
Unquestionably, by 1957 Chet is shooting up. He records a vocal album of ballads the record company refuses to release. It’s panned when it’s released in the 1990s. But Chet also reunites with Gerry Mulligan in 57.
Chet switches labels in 1958. The previous recordings were on Pacific Jazz and were his most succesful. But he switches to riverside for two years in 1958 and that is the label with many of the best jazz musicians of the day.
That’s Philly Joe Jones on drums.
Chet also gets a nice scene in an Italian movie singing Arrevaderci
Chet’s supporting cast on record becomes greater. From 1959, though not released until 83. Bill Evans, Paul Chambers. Pepper Adams, Kenny Burell, Connie Kay, and Hubert Laws--Alone together
But look at how simultaneously cool and strung out he looks here. This is from Italy.
Chet tried for some sort of “cure” for his addiction in 1959. It was seen as a failure and Chet fell from the top of the Jazz polls in Down Beat magazine. I’ve read it described as if Chet let the fans down and the entire American Dream down. He could have been one of the great stars of all time, but he said “f*ck it” and got high.
In 1960 Chet is busted in Italy for heroin. He does a few months in Italian jail before being released. While in jail, the movie to be made based on his life gets a rewrite and a new star (Robert Conrad, opposite Nathalie Wood) and is called "All The Fine Young Cannibals".
The Chet Baker phenomenon ends here. Some of his best music is yet to come, but his career from this point on is either as a star trying for another comeback or as a junky.
So before going on, let’s ask: How does Chet stand up? How good is he? I didn’t give a sh*t about Chet Baker when I was in High School. We didn’t talk about Chet Baker at Jazz College. I listen to these tunes now and I think they are good…but it’s the singing voice that moves me more than the trumpet playing. He does have a gift for melody and I think for someone first learning all of these standards, Chet would be a good person to listen to in order to learn the melodies. So let’s a take a classic tune, “It Never Entered My Mind” and listen to a few versions.
Here is perhaps the definitive version of the tune, Miles Davis Quintet with Red, PC, Philly Jo Jones, and John Coltrane. Recorded in 1957
Here’s Chet in 1958 with PC, Kenny Burrell and Connie Kay
And here are tenor saxmen Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster in 1959
How does Chet compare? Can Chet “hang”? Does he belong with the Masters? Should he be in the musical cannon? Or is it all Hollywood? Is his status simply a product of the machine? His voice certainly has a great sound, but we could say the same about Connie Francis. It’s your call. You can decide for yourself.
Chet tries for a comeback in 1960 (His only record for RCA)
Well, you Needn’t
But he’s a full blown addict now. He hocks his horn for money for heroin sometimes. He makes many bad records. He takes bit parts in Italian films for fast money.
From Wikipedia—
Baker began using heroin in the 1950s, resulting in an addiction that lasted the remainder of his life. 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 both West Germany and the UK for drug-related offenses. Baker was eventually deported from West Germany to the United States after running afoul of the law there a second time. He settled in Milpitas in northern California, where he played in San Jose and San Francisco between short jail terms served for prescription fraud
There were many attempts at a comeback. I read that while his addiction caused a kind of dismissal of Chet in the USA, it brought him a certain amount of sympathy from the European audience…though not European law enforcement. Ruth Young, his girlfriend after his third wife stresses how manipulative Chet could be and how he was skilled at garnering sympathy.
In 64 he gets a special on Belgium TV.
Time after time
In 1965, Chet does a recording sessions with George Coleman and pianist Kirk Lightsey. They record enough material for 5 albums. They are not all “excellent”.
On a Misty Night
From my days at Jazz college under the guidance of Harold Mabern—George Coleman’s frequent musical partner and lifelong friend—I have no recollection of Harold ever mentioning these sessions. From reading many blogs and websites about Jazz over the last year, I’ve come to the conclusion that George Coleman did not think highly of Chet Baker. Why that is, I cannot say for sure…but the word that comes to mind is….”Junky”.
I think 65, though, was a year when Chet tried to get his act together. He marries his third wife, Carol Baker, in 1965. He never divorces her and he fathers three children with her. Chet appears to have been a rotten husband and a fairly sh*tty father.
In 1968, after a gig in Sausalito, Chet is beaten and most of teeth are broken. The way Chet tells the story is that 5 guys jumped him to rob him because they saw him buying heroin. Ruth Young, with whom he began his relationship in 1973, suggests that Chet was perhaps more of a specific target and that someone had lost their patience with him. Someone decided they didn’t care that he was “Chet Baker” and kicked out his teeth because it would hurt him the most. She does come across as a little bitter about Chet in "Let's Get Lost", but that does sound like what would happen to a junky.
Ever know any addicts? Ever get “the call”? One version of the call you can get from a prescription drug addict too. Usually it’s a request for a small amount to pay off a phone bill or to buy groceries. If it’s someone you care about, you may offer to write the phone company a check. You might be willing to take them grocery shopping and spend 5 times the $20 they asked for. But they say no thank you…because they really want to the cash to cop. A heroin addict might call you to offer you something to buy from them. I was offered a PA system insanely cheap about 13 years ago from one “friend” who I’ve now completely lost to heroin. He's probably dead now.
After recovering from the beating, Chet needed about three years before he could figure out a way to play. Chet was manipulative. He could get his friends to help him. Chet says that Dizzy Gillespie helped him get three weeks in NYC when he was ready to play again. And in 1974 he had another reunion concert with Gerry Mulligan.
I think this concert was the end of their friendship. I’ve read some accounts of this performance and tension between the players was high. Mulligan had kicked heroin by this point. Chet never does. I suspect that Mulligan had given up on his friend. It’s easy to have sympathy for the addict struggling to be clean. The addiction is a disease. It’s hard to have sympathy for the addict who won’t truly stop. It’s hard to have sympathy for addict trying to hustle you.
Chet makes records throughout the 60s and 70s, many of them are awful. And even though there is this output, he falls into obscurity. But he moves to New York City and plays on this excellent Jim Hall record.
1975 Includes Paul Desmond, Ron Carter, Roland Hanna, and Steve Gadd.
He does get his act somewhat together around 1978. In his last decade, he performs extensively in Europe and makes several recordings. He performs in the USA maybe once a year. Thing is, the music is good. Perhaps the best of his life.
He performs and records with Stan Getz again in 1983
Chet takes to often playing in groups without drums in the 80s, preferring a quieter sound. Interesting thing is that a good deal of heroin inspired music is quiet. And slow.
by the mid 80s Chet has some strong support from pop stars. Did you ever expect to hear Van Morrison sing “Send in the Clowns”?
Elvis Costello becomes a strong supporter of Chet.
The heroin took its toll, just compare what he looks like in the 80s to the 50s. But he maintains his musical gifts.
In 87 they begin to make a documentary about Chet’s life.
In May of 1988, Chet falls out his Hotel room window in Amsterdam at 3am and dies. Heroin is found in his room and in his system. Officially, it is believed that he was high and simply fell out of the window. Insanely stupid sh*t like that happens to addicts. Others suggest that Chet was victim to more nefarious actions and perhaps got a bit of a push. That also happens to heroin addicts. Chet died shortly before “Lets Get Lost” was released. Whatever the actual cause of his fall, Heroin killed him.
It’s a profound shame really. Chet was playing fairly strong at the end of his life. His career probably would have gotten a bigger boost still had he lived past the release of “Let’s Get Lost”. Currently his estate is seeking legal representation to recover lost royalties. It appears as if he left his children with little more than a name. There was a movie intended for 2008 about his life, but the project got canned.
Chet embodies a kind of “Cool”. I’m reminded of something Jim Carroll wrote in “The Basketball Diaries”: “anything worth doing is worth looking good while doing it”. One also has to wonder to what extent Chet has helped perpetuate the myth that all Jazz musicians were drug addicts. I ran across an amazing discussion printed in Playboy magazine in 1960. Dizzy, Duke, Shelly Mann, Stan Kenton, Cannonball and Nat Adderly, Nat Hentoff, a narcotics officer and psychologist discuss heroin in Jazz. They never mention Chet or Art Pepper…though they do Stan Getz…but in hindsight, it is interesting to try to parse who they may mean…and Im sure that if Chet is not intended, Art Pepper, Zoot Sims, and AL Cohn absolutely are.
I ran across a review of a biography about Chet which seems really interesting.
Quoting from a quoting in the review….
‘All the attempts to get him off heroin — he didn’t want to get off heroin,’ said Gerry Mulligan. ‘That, of course, is heresy in the modern world. You’re supposed to be going, “Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, oh God, help me.” Chet didn’t give a damn.’
Rest in the peace you could not find on this Earth, Chet.
Thanks for listening everyone. Please support your local Jazz musicians and all local live music. And Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah.