Chet Baker Sings (180g yellow vinyl LP )

Release date 15-04-2018( originally released in 1954)

2018 EU reissue 180g yellow vinyl LP - Recorded with pianist Russ Freeman's ensemble in 1954 and 1956, this is the archetypal Baker release, and the first one to get if you're testing the waters. Baker sings standards (including "My Funny Valentine," of course) as if stepping out of an androgynous dream, although it would take another 20 years of hard living for his voice to take on otherworldly qualities. Relaxed West Coast swing such as this can't be duplicated today. In its sweetly melancholic post- war foreboding, this is a Mike Davis book set to music. "Sings" should be on the required listening list for any history class covering the city of L.

 Chet Bakers classic debut as a singer origially released as a 10 inch long player, this album was a revelation and won Baker new frame and a new audience. This reissued as a fulllength LP with additional tracks from later sessions here, are 14 finally phrased songs revealing a voice full of tenderness and beauty.

Tracks:
A1     That Old Feeling
A2     It's Always You
A3     Like Someone In Love
A4     My Ideal
A5     I've Never Been In Love Before
A6     My Buddy

B1     But Not For Me     
B2     Time After Time
B3     I Get Along Without You Very Well
B4     My Funny Valentine
B5     There Will Never Be Another You
B6     The Thrill Is Gone
B7     I Fall In Love Too Easily
B8     Look For The Silver Lining

Chet Baker made his musical debut in 1952 as an integral member of Gerry Mulligans modernist pianoless quartet by all accounts marking the beginning of the postbop West Coast style So it came as quite a shock when Baker made his singing debut on this seminal 1954 release he sounded less like a member of the cool school than a boy crooner straight out of the 40s
Actually left to his own nonMulligan devices Chet Baker the instrumentalist was not an innovator in the postbebop mode What his sideline singing did reveal were his songful roots in the swing of Harry James and other formative influences Still the bland innocence of Chet Bakers AllAmerican vocals can make for an eerily cool listening experience in this context And an authentically satisfying one as his definitive version of My Funny Valentine should make clear Throughout pianist Russ Freemans warm solid touch provides the perfect foil for Bakers affectless Romanticism