Uber Cool

In the history of jazz, there are the innovators and the followers. Often the followers are supreme craftsman and better players than the innovators in a purely technical sense. One such I feel is trumpeter Chet Baker. His music is in danger of being overlooked and relegated to being of secondary importance compared to his melodramatic and self destructive lifestyle and his "uber cool" image. Even when his music is being considered, it is often the smokey vocals he put on disk that garner the attention. I have gone for a purely instrumental set however, a compilation of sides cut twenty years apart in 1962 and 1982 and here given the title White Blues. The earlier recording session has him accompanied by a basic bass, drums and piano rhythm section while the later numbers add guitar and the journeyman sax and flute of Bobby Jasper. It is Baker's soulful, melodic and passionate playing that ignite the sessions though. My remark about him not being an innovator is illustrated by the reworkings of Monk's tunes Round Midnight and Well You Needn't with the themes simply stated, all the edginess taken out and a standard run through of the changes ensuing. However, the more mainstream material is a perfect showcase for the qualities of Baker's playing mentioned above, while the standards Over The Rainbow and These Foolish Things have not fared any better in other hands.