Chet Baker - Chet Baker & Crew

Mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray.

The numbers heard on Chet Baker & Crew were among a prolific flurry of recordings Baker was involved in during the last week of July 1956 - fresh from an extended European stay. The crew on these sides includes Phil Urso (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), Peter Littman (drums) and of course Baker (trumpet/vocals). Joining the combo on both the original as well as the alternate take of "To Mickey's Memory" and "Pawnee Junction" is Bill Loughbrough (chromatic tympani). His unmistakable percussive accents and tuned drum solos give these West Coast bop tracks uniquely Polynesian intonations. This LP reissue of Chet Baker & Crew increases the original eight-song Pacific Jazz collection to include all 14 tracks complete during three sessions in late July 1956 at the Forum Theater in Los Angeles.