Victor Cheng

It almost astounds me that before this year, I had never heard of Chet Baker. A fine trumpeteer and vocalist, Chet is known for his signature vocal style and delivery. Theres just something about his singing that floats up and grabs your attention, tenderly of course. Chet Baker Sings features him on 14 standards, each track a delicate balance between sweet goodnight kiss, and a cherry liqueur chocolate. Chets overall vocal style has this special way of rendering me in a dreamlike state, feeling grandeur visions of a romantic night out, slow dancing in some bourgeois dining room. Chet plays with an outstanding ensemble on this album, featuring Kenny Drew on piano, Sam Jones on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums, George Morrow on bass, Dannie Richmond on Drums, Jimmy bond on bass, Russ Freeman on piano and celeste, Peter Littman on drums, Larance Marable on drums, and Bob Neal on drums. The first track, That Old Feeling gives off a sense of familiar comfort. The instrumental intro is inviting and warm, complemented by Chets delivery of the head. Though the song is about old love, you cant help but to smile with fond memories when he sings. Taking it slower, Its Always You is really what I define as Chets signature style. Especially dealing with his slower and sadder tunes, Chet has this way of hanging onto his notes that makes it seem like hes gliding across gold with his voice. Combined with his impeccable slides into notes and vibrato, I really feel like he captures the beauty of yearning and lovesickness wholeheartedly.

Victor Cheng

Keeping in with the moodier tone of the previous track, Like Someone In Love is reminiscent of his signature style, a walking bass line changing the whole mood in the first twenty seconds. My Buddy keeps the album moving along, picking up the pace from the previous two songs. Again, Chet is soft with his words and tone, backing off in all the right places. Chet ends the piece on a high note (literally), compromising vocal quality to emulate a trumpet. My Funny Valentine starts off with bass and voice, and is quite moody sounding. One of the most outstanding moments of this piece for me would have to be with the line Is your mouth a little weak, when he has a great switch to headvoice on the high note of the word mouth. Its sublime to hear the small details being added in with such great effect. The Thrill Is Gone easily captures Chets signature melancholy. You can feel the love and reverence he is capable of, even when describing the loss of something. When he sings, its as if hes afraid to hurt the melody or message of the piece; its almost tragic to hear him sing a sad tune. I Fall In Love Too Easily is one of my favorite tunes on this album. I almost picture him as a selfconscious Romeo in this, smiling to himself as he reflects on his easily swayed heart. Ending the album on a cheer note, Look For the Silver Lining brings us back to the upbeat Chet found in the first song, and upping that tenfold. You can feel lighthearted, gay laughter floating above this track.

Victor Cheng
But Not For Me starts off quite nicely, with a cute little trumpet intro, the rhythm section has a neat little segue into the vocal melody. Composed by George and Ira Gershwin, Chet and the rhythm section move this piece along well. The use of brushes on the drumset really help preserve the cheery feeling of this piece as it moves throughout the trumpet and piano solo, before returning to the vocal head. Throughout the solos there is excellent swing taking place, most notably for me in the trumpet. Going back into the head, there was an interesting bit of syncopation going on with the rhythm section that caught the listeners attention. Aside from that bit though, I thought that the rhythm section felt a bit too much in the supporting role. I Get Along Without You Very Well was composed by Hoagy Carmichael, and utilizes the Celeste, a very unique choice of instrumentation. This use of the metal idiophone sound twinkles, similar to a lullaby. Once again, the use of brushes is very deliberate throughout the album, and certainly completes the sound on this track. The use of brushes is extremely soothing, and his shift to sticks on cymbal around 2:10 is a welcome pick up to the sound, and refreshing to the solo-less piece. Ive also notice that the bass line seems to jump quite a bit throughout the piece, after periods of walking. I found that it generated a stop and go feeling to the piece, complementing the vocal line, walking during his phrases, jumping on his sustained notes. There Will Never Be Another You, composed by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren is similar to But Not For Me, keeping a more uptempo swing. The track starts off with a high energy trumpet intro, followed by the head, and trumpet and piano solos before the vocal line comes in. The rhythm section is really involved in this piece, the piano is one of the defining undercurrents of the piece. The piano really brings the song to life, playing an interesting countermelody underneath the second trumpet solo. The piece slows down following this second solo, coming right down to chords mostly on beats 1 and 3. His harmonic change gives a feeling of a wave rolling to stop. Instead of stopping on the tonic, he plays downwards, eventually ending a chord with the original tonic acting as the leading tone.