Career: 1952-1988
During his lifetime it became difficult to separateChet Baker's music from the sad legend he became; a textbook case of psychological disconnectedness. At the beginning of his career his matinee idol looks sometimes distracted audiences from his musical gifts. Thereafter, his drug addiction overshadowed nearly every move he made, making his artistic impulses somehow suspect. This two-disc anthology sets the record straight, dividing the recordings into his trumpet playing and his singing. The former has always been justly lauded. His cool phrasing on the trumpet was always known to draw forth emotional resonance from the simplest of melodies.  His talented singing is showcased in such a way to present how his voice could resonant the same emotional stirrings as his trumpet work. With his biography presented with brief but poetic insight, this set is a perfect portrait of the man.--David Greenberger