The Best of Chet Baker Sings

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Once Chet Baker arrived in California from his native Oklahoma, his career exploded. After landing gigs with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, Baker soon found himself a solo star and bandleader. Not long after that, he also found himself whispering love songs into a microphone. Baker was not gifted with the most robust voice of the day. Indeed, listening to pure singers like Nat "King" Cole or Johnny Hartman can expose Baker's weaknesses, but what Baker did, he did well. By choosing wistful, so-young, so-in-love tunes, Baker was able to pour his heart into the material, sketching soft, romantic moods and painting himself as the broken-hearted innocent. The effect can be devastating, as Baker's voice clings to the melody, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Many of his best tunes--"I Fall in Love Too Easily," "But Not for Me," "Let's Get Lost"--are collected here, and as such, there is no better place to begin an appreciation of Baker's unique singing. --S. Duda

The Best of Chet Baker Sings, Music, Chet Baker, Cool, Jazz, Jazz Music, Pop, Vocal Jazz, West Coast Jazz
The Best of Chet Baker Sings
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • buy this or you're fired.
  • WhAt'S "TeChNiCaL StAnDpOiNt"?
  • The place to start, and to come back to
  • excellent
  • Acquired Taste
 The Best of Chet Baker Sings
Chet Baker
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  1. My Funny Valentine
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  3. Chet
  4. Embraceable You
  5. The Original Quartet With Chet Baker [2-CD SET]

ASIN: B000005HFH
Release Date: 1989-08-04

Tracks:

  1. The Thrill Is Gone
  2. But Not For Me
  3. Time After Time
  4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
  5. There Will Never Be Another You
  6. Look For The Silver Lining
  7. My Funny Valentine
  8. I Fall In Love Too Easily
  9. Daybreak
  10. Just Friends
  11. I Remember You
  12. Let's Get Lost
  13. Long Ago And Far Away
  14. You Don't Know What Love Is
  15. That Old Feeling
  16. It's Always You
  17. I've Never Been In Love Before
  18. My Buddy
  19. Like Someone In Love
  20. My Ideal

Amazon.com essential recording

Once Chet Baker arrived in California from his native Oklahoma, his career exploded. After landing gigs with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, Baker soon found himself a solo star and bandleader. Not long after that, he also found himself whispering love songs into a microphone. Baker was not gifted with the most robust voice of the day. Indeed, listening to pure singers like Nat "King" Cole or Johnny Hartman can expose Baker's weaknesses, but what Baker did, he did well. By choosing wistful, so-young, so-in-love tunes, Baker was able to pour his heart into the material, sketching soft, romantic moods and painting himself as the broken-hearted innocent. The effect can be devastating, as Baker's voice clings to the melody, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Many of his best tunes--"I Fall in Love Too Easily," "But Not for Me," "Let's Get Lost"--are collected here, and as such, there is no better place to begin an appreciation of Baker's unique singing. --S. Duda

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars buy this or you're fired........2007-01-29

There's this kid who worked for me some 40 years ago. i said "Chet Baker is in town. if you dont go hear him, you're fired," he's still thanking me. Chet Baker SINGS...and alot better than most. and thats HIM in the background PLAYING. WOW! Parker came back from the coast after playing with Chetty for a few weeks. he says to Miles, "theres a white boy out there who's going to blow you away." Chet has been blowing & singing some of the Best ever since!!! buy this or you're fired.

5 out of 5 stars WhAt'S "TeChNiCaL StAnDpOiNt"? .......2006-11-09

Technical standpoint? Is that how you listen to music? Sorry. I have no idea as to "technical standpoint". The music makes me feel alive and it makes me feel good, as a bohemian should. Chet baker has over 60 albums and has remained popular for over 50 years. I doubt if anything "heard in local clubs" will ever leave a legacy close to Mr. Baker's. An acquired taste? I was hooked in the first thirty seconds of the first Chet Baker song I ever heard and I've yet to hear anything he has done to change my mind. Most folks I know that like Chet Baker feel the same. Stop thinking and listen, this music is life at its best.

5 out of 5 stars The place to start, and to come back to.......2006-08-06

Over years of listening to jazz, this is the album I most often return to. It has absolutely everything: great songs (some of the greatest). A spectacular voice unlike Frank's or Ella's or Sarah's or anyone's--a voice that's all things to all people. (Whatever you want to hear in Baker's voice--depth, surface, warmth, detachment, male, female, and just about any other pairing of opposites--is right there for the taking.) You get ballads and lilting uptempos. Accessibility (this is not music to struggle to enjoy.) Innocence and experience. Summer-afternoon arrangements to float you away. A brilliant trumpet soloist (who was, however unlikely, the same guy as the amazing vocalist). Melody and improvisation.... If I were introducing a newbie to jazz, this is the album I'd start with. Then, after you listen to a thousand others, play Chet singing again and realize: this one tops them all. How did Baker do it? He probably shouldn't have been able to, given the way he lived lived--and that too feels like a piece of this recording's pleasure.

5 out of 5 stars excellent.......2006-07-06

excellent performances by chet baker. his voice is unique and is highly recommended to all jazz lovers. It is so rare to find so many songs by chet baker in one collection and here are some wonderful songsby a wonderful jaxx singer and player.

3 out of 5 stars Acquired Taste.......2006-03-26

People are a bit too crazy with all the 5 star reviews. From a technical standpoint, he is a pretty poor vocalist. Most of the jazz vocals I have heard in local clubs are better than Chet and as for more widely known, recorded artists, they all leave Chet in the dust. Of course, technical skill is not the whole thing. Certain vocalists have a way of singing that resonates with some people. Chet is one of those kinds of singers. It is certainly possible to love his singing, but for many people, it would be an acquired taste. For those who really put a lot of emphasis on technical skills, it is unlikely that they will ever be able to deal with Chet the singer.
The Best of Chet Baker: Sings and Plays
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		The Best of Chet Baker: Sings and Plays
    Chet Baker
    Manufacturer: Jazz Forever
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    Similar Items:
    1. The Best of Chet Baker Sings

    ASIN: B000BKUXF6
    Release Date: 2005-10-25

    Tracks:

    1. I Should Care
    2. When I Fall in Love
    3. Look for the Silver Lining
    4. Forgetful
    5. Tune Up
    6. Deep in a Dream
    7. Line for Lions
    8. Street of Dreams
    9. Angel Eyes
    10. Lady Bird
    11. Autumn in New York
    12. Song Is You
    13. Good-Bye
    14. Cheryl Blues
    The Best of Chet Baker: Sings and Plays
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		The Best of Chet Baker: Sings and Plays
      Chet Baker
      Manufacturer: Jazz Forever
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      Cool JazzCool Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
      Vocal Jazz GeneralVocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
      ASIN: B000059ZJL
      Release Date: 2005-01-01

      Tracks:

      1. I Should Care
      2. When I Fall in Love
      3. Look for the Silver Lining
      4. Forgetful
      5. Tune Up
      6. Deep in a Dream
      7. Line for Lions
      8. Street of Dreams
      9. Angel Eyes
      10. Lady Bird
      11. Autumn in New York
      12. Song Is You
      13. Good-Bye
      14. Cheryl Blues

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