He was a star at 23 years old, winner of the Critics' as well as Readers' Poll in Down Beat. But much of his later life was shadowed by his drug use and problems with the law. Chet Baker His Life and Music gives for the first time a full account of the famous trumpeter - famous as much for his tragic life as his beautiful music. The author has interviewed dozens of Baker's friends and colleagues, his wife, Carol Baker, as well as the investigating team that made the initial report on Chet's strange death. The text is enhanced by many photographs of Chet, his friends, and colleagues.

There is a select, as well as a complete, discography.

"It is hard to say which aspect of Chet Baker was more fascinating: the performer who graced his audiences with music of exceptional beauty, or the offstage rebel whose life story was infused with pathos and tragedy. De Valk's book brings us face-to-face with both sides of Baker, cutting through the myths and half-truths that have clouded our views to date, and providing a haunting portrait of a fallen star who followed his own path no matter what the consequences." - TED GIOIA, author of West Coast Jazz and The History of Jazz.

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