Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955–1959
| Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955–1959 | ||||
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| Studio album by Chet Baker | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Jazzhaus , SWR Music, Arthaus Musik | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
14th |
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running time |
58:52 |
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Studio (s) |
Mainz, Stuttgart, Baden-Baden |
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Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955–1959 is a jazz album with recordings by the trumpeter Chet Baker , which were created in various line-ups between 1955 and 1959 in Mainz, Stuttgart and Baden-Baden. They were released in 2013 as LP and in 2014 as Compact Disc on the Jazzhaus , SWR Music and Arthaus Musik labels . Also included are the duets Baker with Caterina Valente, previously published by Brunswick Records .
background
A few months after his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival , Chet Baker went on a European tour with his new quartet; So he gave a guest performance with his band, consisting of Dick Twardzik , Jimmy Bond and Peter Littman , on September 17th in the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and the following day in the Kurhaus Scheveningen . Baker then appeared on September 20, 1955 in the Jazztime Mainz series of events with the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra in the Electoral Palace in Mainz; thereby the title "Bockhanal" was created.
With his own quartet (as well as with the saxophonist Lars Gullin as a guest) the trumpeter recorded “Cool Blues”, “Brash” and “ Lover Man ” in a studio session for television on Süddeutscher Rundfunk in the Villa Berg in Stuttgart on October 15, 1955 on;. During the session there was also a first encounter with the singer Caterina Valente ; the sextet-made track “I'll Remember April”, in which Valente mostly scatted, is not included on this album. Twardzik's drug death in Paris just a week later marked the end of Baker's American quartet; Twardzik's friend Peter Littman returned to Boston.
Baker made friends with the jazz journalist and producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt in Mainz . At the end of 1955, Berendt invited Baker to Baden-Baden, in order to meet and record again with Kurt Edelhagen in March 1956 (whose orchestra was the big band of Südwestfunk at the time ). The two duo recordings with Valente were also made in Baden-Baden in 1956 and were released as a single that same year.
" Sweet Georgia Brown " was created during another recording session for Südwestfunk (SWF) on December 6, 1955 for the series Jazz - Heard and Seen ; Werner Rehm (trumpet), Dick Simon (trombone), Gustl Mayer (clarinet), Claus Ogerman (piano), Louis Freichel (vibraphone), Benoît Quersin (bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums) played with Chet Baker .
After their tour, Baker and Bond returned to the United States in early summer 1956. Baker and Bond then teamed up with pianist Russ Freeman and again with Littman in Los Angeles and recorded. Over the next few years, Baker recorded a number of successful albums for Riverside Records . In the following years, Chet Baker returned to Baden-Baden for several SWF studio sessions. He recorded a total of four titles there at the end of March 1956; with Caterine Velente on March 26th “Every Time We Say Goodbye” and “ I'll Remember April ”, with Kurt Edelhagens Orchester on March 29th “ Everything Happens to Me ” and “Lullaby in Rhythm”. The number "Baker '56" and the standard " It Never Entered My Mind " were also created on March 29, 1956, again with the Kurt Edelhagen orchestra. Baker recorded the tracks “I Should Care”, “Isn't It Romantic?” And “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” with the Südwestfunk dance orchestra under the direction of Rolf-Hans Müller on September 2, 1959 in Baden-Baden.
Track list
- Chet Baker: Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955–1959 (Jazzhaus 101752, SWR Music 101752, Arthaus Musik 101752)
- Bockhanal 3:07
- Cool blues 3:30
- Brash 4:38
- Lover Man 5:28
- Sweet Georgia Brown 3:16
- Lullaby in Rhythm 3:08
- Every Time We Say Goodbye 3:10
- Everything Happens To Me 4:04
- I'll Remember April 2:49
- Baker '56 2:12
- It Never Entered My Mind 3:20
- I Should Care 2:39
- Isn't It Romantic? 3:06
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams 3:54
reception
The Jazz Messengers critic wrote: “As a trumpeter in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Chet Baker first played his way into the hearts of fans in 1952 with lyrical ballads and a calming tone. He became famous overnight, and in 1954 was voted best trumpeter by readers of leading US jazz magazines - ahead of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis . The gentle poet of the trumpet - that was his image. So it was a surprise for the European audience to hear the Chet Baker, whom they discovered at his live concerts: a trumpeter with an attacking style and lively bop lines, accompanied by a pianist who combined innovative harmonies with bizarre rhythms, and a drummer who drove the band on with a hard, driving punch. ”Supposedly, the anonymous critic continued, nobody in Europe was prepared for this Baker's quartet with Twardzik, Bond and Littman. “Bockhanal”, the earliest recording of the album, was “a particularly valuable rarity: only four weeks after this concert, the quartet no longer existed. The only 24-year-old pianist Dick Twardzik died on October 21, 1955 in Paris of a drug overdose. "
The meeting between Caterine Valente and Chet Baker was "of ultimate sophistication and simplicity", advertised its producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt. "In these intimate duets Chet Baker plays the trumpet as only he can: tender, melodic, supple." Among the most convincing recordings from 1959 with the Rolf-Hans Müller Orchestra are Baker appearances in "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and " Autumn in New York ”.
Matt Collar gave the album four stars on Allmusic and said the pieces collected on Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955-1959 were made at the height of Baker's popularity and consistently show him in good shape. Here you will find several big band numbers (rare for Baker) as well as two excellent duets with the Italian singer / guitarist Caterina Valente, "I Remember April" and "Everytime We Say Goodbye".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tom Lord : Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ On September 21st, Baker performed again in the Great Hall of the Electoral Palace in Mainz. The tracks "Walkin '", "Indian Summer" and " All the Things You Are " were recorded (the latter also with Rolf Schneebiegl - trumpet); the recordings appeared on the album Chet Baker in Europe, 1955 (Philology).
- ↑ a b c d e Early Chet: Chet Baker in Germany 1955-1959. Jazz Messengers, May 6, 2019, accessed on March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ different date of admission 2. – 4. October 1955 at Discogs
- ^ A b Marc Myers: Chet Baker & Caterina Valente. Jazzwax, February 4, 2009, accessed March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Chet Baker - Early Chet (Chet Baker in Germany 1955-1959) at Discogs
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 22, 2020.