Chet by Chet Baker

Although always recognized as a trumpeter with unsurpassed lyrical qualities, Chet Baker has had many ups and downs in his long career. The very late 1950s 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. It had a strong basic concept (simply to turn Chet loose on some first-class standard-ballad compositions) and, quite importantly, one of those casually all-star lineups that the jazz scene of those days made possible: Bill Evans, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay, Philly Joe Jones.

Recorded with Herbie Mann, Pepper Adams, Bill Evans, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay, Philly Joe Jones.