Chet Baker - Chet

Although always recognized as a trumpeter with unsurpassed lyrical qualities, Chet Baker had many ups and downs in his long career. The very late 1950's was not an up period; the West Coast label he was under contract to readily allowed Riverside to borrow him as leader on four albums. Most of them were extremely uneven, but this one definitely worked.

The album has a strong basic concept (simply to turn Chet loose on some first-class standard-ballad compositions) and one of those casual all-star lineups that the jazz scene of those days made possible: Bill Evans, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay and Philly Joe Jones.