Great Jazz Albums (IMO) #33

Chet Baker. Chet Baker in New York (1958). Chet Baker, with his Hollywood good looks, heroin addiction and restrained style of trumpet playing was the iconic cool jazz musician of the 1950s.  Probably his best recordings were those made in the early 50s on the Pacific Jazz Label, first with Gerry Mulligan's piano-less quartet (see The Best of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker), and then with his own group.  Then, of course, there were his unique vocals, as found on Chet Baker Sings, recorded in 1956, which led to widespread popularity.  Baker's drug habit began to derail his career by the 1960s, but before then, in 1958, he recorded my favorite Chet Baker album, Chet Baker in New York.  He is joined by stalwarts Johnny Griffin on saxophone, Al Haig on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, and demonstrates that his west coast cool could hang with "the cats back East."  One reviewer describes the results as "uniformly brilliant," as Baker's "cool-toned solos fly and bop with authority around the equally impressive supporting soloists."  Another critic calls this "rousing session" one for the history books

[Related posts:  Great Jazz Albums  #1 (Hank Mobley), #2 (Horace Silver), #3 (Sonny Rollins), #4 (Sonny Clark), #5 (Dexter Gordon), #6 (Cannonball Adderley), #7 (Bill Evans), #8 (McCoy Tyner), #9 (Clifford Brown), #10 (Sinatra), #11 (Monk), #12 (Kenny Dorham), #13 (Coltrane), #14 (Duke Ellington), #15 (Miles Davis), #16 (Wayne Shorter), #17 (Dinah Washington); #18 (Sarah Vaughan); #19 (Stan Getz); #20 (Blue Mitchell); #21 (Gene Ammons); #22 (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers); #23 (Red Garland); #24 (Ella Fitzgerald); #25 (Charlie Parker); #26 (Art Pepper); #27 (Bud Powell); #28 (John Hicks); #29 (Kenny Barron); #30 (Coleman Hawkins); #31 (Count Basie);  #32 (Benny Carter w/ Ben Webster and Barney Bigard)]