Italian Sessions
Chet Baker covering "Well You Needn't"--a typically knotty tune byThelonious Monk? Here's an excellent and surprisingly muscular session from Baker, a trumpeter known for his soft-as-butter tone and his heart-on-sleeve emotive playing. Throughout, Baker's playing is uncommonly crisp as he gets out in front of notes and stays there, never lagging behind or having to reach to hit his mark. He was never known as a bop player, yet this exceptionally recorded date shows he had both the timing and the chops to handle just about anything that came his way. Baker even manages to fit in "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," so fans of the romantic Chet will also have something sigh over.--S. Duda