chetbakertribute.com

Chet's biography
Chet Baker was born Chesney Henry Baker Jr. on December 23, 1929 in Yale, Oklahoma. His father, Chesney Sr. was a guitarist who played in local country and western bands. When Chet was 10, the family moved to Southern California. Chesney Sr., encouraging his son to pursue music, bought Chet a trombone. The 12 year old found it difficult to handle, so he eventually switched to trumpet. He played trumpet through junior high school, and on through college.

In 1946 he was drafted into the Army, and played in the Army band in Berlin. After returning home, Baker continued his music education at El Camino College. In 1952 he won an audition with Charlie Parker, then went on to join Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet. The group performed regularly at The Haig in Hollywood. In 1953, Baker formed his own band featuring Russ Freeman on piano. The Chet Baker Quartet toured and recorded with great success. As the decade came to a close, Chet was addicted to heroin and his life was filled with arrests and scandals.

Chet Baker spent most of the sixties in Europe, recording infrequently and getting in to trouble frequently. He made some very notable recordings in the early part of the decade (such as the Prestige recordings from 1965), sometimes switching to flugelhorn. But the late sixties found him recording some dreadful music, and eventually he had given up playing after losing most of his upper teeth. Years of drug use had taken their toll on Chet's teeth, and in July of 1966 he was attacked, and his teeth were damaged further.

In the early 1970's, Chet Baker began to learn how to play with dentures. Beginning in 1974, Chet recorded and toured regularly, mostly in Europe. Despite the effects of age, drugs and false teeth, he actually improved in those later years. Chet's performances in the eighties were unpredictable. Sometimes he would show up and perform the best gig of his career. Sometimes he would show up and perform poorly. Sometimes he wouldn't even show up.

Chet Baker's turbulent life came to a bizarre and tragic end on May 13, 1988 in Amsterdam. Chet fell from the open window of his hotel room, hitting the concrete two stories below.

It can be argued that Chet was at his musical peak when he died in 1988. Indeed some of his best recordings came from 1986 and 1987.

Frequently asked questions about Chet

How did Chet baker die? Was he murdered? Did he kill himself?
One of the many things people find fascinating about Chet Baker is his "mysterious death". The only thing that makes it mysterious is that no one witnessed it. Murder can be ruled out because there was no sign of struggle in Chet's hotel room, and the door was locked from the inside. Nor was it a planned suicide. There was no note, and any person intending to kill themselves would have certainly jumped from higher that 2 stories. Usually a fall like that would result in broken bones but not death. No, Chet's death was an odd, misfortunate accident. He simply fell out of the window. There was heroin found in his system, and there were large amounts of cocaine and heroin in his room. He probably went to open the window, and simply lost his balance. When he fell (at about 3 AM), he struck his head on a concrete post on the sidewalk. Given Baker's life of ups and downs, the rumors make for a more interesting end to his story.

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Where can I find a copy of "let's get lost"?
Bruce Weber's 1988 "documentary" about Chet Baker is currently out of print in the U.S. market. There are frequently new and used copies of the film on VHS or DVD on www.ebay.com. Be careful, some of the copies are Japanese imports with Japanese subtitles. Be sure to check with the seller. The film was shown in theatres in limited release in 2007. It was issued on DVD in 2008 in Europe only.

Although "Let's Get Lost" is entertaining, it is not the ultimate Chet Baker experience. The film wrongly depicts Baker as a washed-up musician with his best days behind him. You will get more satisfaction listening to many of his great recordings.

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Is is true that Chet could not read music?
The fact that Chet Baker could play by ear, and could quickly learn tunes, lead to the misconception that he could not read music. In 1987 Herbie Hancock said of his recording of "Fair Weather": "I had forgotten that Chet didn't read music. I remember how fresh his first take was, he followed the chords as if he had known them all his life".

Perhaps when Hancock said Chet "didn't" read music he simply meant the artist felt more comfortable playing what was in his head rather that what was on the sheet music. Baker said in a 1987 interview with biographer J. de Valk; "Well, I can't read chord sequences. I can play a melody line that is written down for trumpet. But chord symbols tell me nothing. For a time I went to instrument training class in junior high school. That was the only instruction that I ever had." Russ Freeman talked about Chet's ability to read music in this 1990 interview.

Also, the because Chet Baker was not a composer, it has lead people to believe he was musically illiterate. I think that it was Baker's ability to play what was in his head, rather than what was written down, that made him such a great musician.

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Is there a Chet Baker movie in the works?
Not really. After years of abandoned projects involving such big names as Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and Jim Carrey, Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, Lucky Number Slevin) was to play Chet in a film called The Prince of Cool. In early 2008, Hartnett pulled out of the project when he felt the producers were not making a film that would do justice to Chet's amazing life.

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Was Chet ever married? Did he have any children?
Chet was married to Charlaine in 1950, they had no children. In 1956 he married Halema, and they had a son, Chesney Aftab in 1957. Halema is the woman seen in the famous William Claxton photos, such as the one on the cover of My Funny Valentine. Chet married Carol in 1964 and they had three children; Dean (1962), Paul (1965) and Melissa (1966). Chet remained married to Carol until his death, although they were separated in the mid seventies.

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What kind of horns did Chet play?
Chet wasn't loyal to any particular brand or type. He usually blew on whatever he had at the time. Many times he would pawn or lose his horn when he was strung out. He played a Martin "Committee" in the fifties, he even appeared in an ad for Martin. In the 70's he liked the Conn "Constellation". In the 80's he played on a Buescher and a Getzen Capri. At the time of his death he was playing a Selmer "Vincent Bach Stradivarius". He also played a flugelhorn (usually a Selmer) through much of 1964-1968. He found the horn easier to play when he was having problems with his teeth.

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What is your favorite Chet song and/or album?
My favorite Chet album is In Tokyo. But choosing a favorite song is tougher. My favorite early song is "Time After Time", and my favorite song from his later years is "Arborway".

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Do you have any Chet baker merchandise for sell?
No, the sole purpose of this site is to share my appreciation of Chet's music with other fans, and hopefully introduce him to new fans.