BuzzFlash Reviews

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Soulful, Bluesy Jazz at Its Best!

From an online reviewer:

These recordings, made between February and October 1953, feature Baker at the threshold of his carreer and vividly show his ceativity and promise. Anyone who questions why he continues to be held in such high esteem, should find the answer in listening to this CD.

There's a story that Charlie Parker, upon returning to New York from a trip to California, warned Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis about a new, young trumpet player out there named Chet Baker. These recordings demonstrate that the warning was justified.

From another online reviewer:

Pairing Chet Baker with Russ Freeman in the '50s resulted in some of the most gorgeous recordings of any era. Baker was an icon of the jazz world for his trumpet playing, his singing (almost sounding like a trumpet) and his incredible looks, which really stood out in the rather homely jazz world (jazz guys do not usually look like rock stars!). Russ Freeman was a fabulous pianist plus also a composer. Together the two men played the most romantic, most emotional music extant in jazz. Theirs is not the "intellectual" jazz as popularized by Dave Brubeck. Warning: Buying one Chet Baker CD can be dangerous for the wallet. Once you own one of his discs, you will want all of them. I certainly did and now have the cd collection to prove it! I also bought every recording I was able to find that he did with Russ Freeman.

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS