Here is a startling literary find: the writings and musings of the late, legendary jazz trumpet-player Chet Baker rediscovered by his wife. Baker was one of the seminal figures in postwar jazz. His career began in army bands, but soon enough fate brought him together with Charlie Parker, and so began his initiation into the hazy world of jazz, and the establishment of the now infamous California Cool scene of the 1950s.

The infamous Chet Baker - musician, junkie, and progenitor of West Coast cool jazz - has always been an aloof mystery and a tortured saint. Until now. This chaotic ghost's pure trumpeting, aching vocals, and now-classic renditions of many jazz standards all belie the turmoil of his private life. Baker dominated the jazz scene of the 1950s, working closely with the likes of Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton. By the sixties, however, he found himself caught in a downward spiral of heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs. In and out of jail, in and out of relationships, crisscrossing the Atlantic in seach of some sort of redemtpion - this is his account. Throughout his life Chet reutrned again and again to the solace his music offered, to the haven of his trumpet's smooth wail and his voice's low croon. Until this memoir, these recordings were all we had. Finally, Chet Baker has let us in, past the music right into his soul.

His reticent interpretation of My Funny Valentine brought him instant fame, but by the 1960s his drug addition had put his career on the skids. Back from the brink in the 1970s and 1980s, he reinvented himself, and was the subject of the much lauded Bruce Weber documentary Let's Get Lost in 1987. He died in mysterious circumstances in 1988.

"…Baker tells the weird story of his army days and the subsequent, jagged career: eating taquitos with Charlie Parker, landing in jail for heroin use, trying to outrun the tabloids. Despite all the drama, each chapter is like a sketch done at the beach on a perfect, drowsy day." - NEW YORKER

back to previous page