Chet Baker - Big Band

It would be pleasant to be able to write that Rickard Bock, the chief panjandrum of  Pacific Jazz Enterprizes, heard Chet Baker playing with a big band years ago and thereupon resolved to some day record him in this context —as he has done so felicitiously in the present album. The fact is, however, that when Chet was part of the big band scene not a single recording company was setting up mikes and tape machines to impound his blowing for posterity. This is understandable when you consider that the groups with which the young hornman was associated were such as a junior high school orchestra and U.S. Army military bands.

Chet, who got his start in Yale (Oklahoma, that is) on December 23, 1929, became a Californian in 1940 when his family moved to the Los Angeles area. He began playing in junior high and within only a few years came to national attention of sorts. That was when the draft board pulled his number from the barrel. This stroke of good fortune eventually landed Baker in Berlin with the 298th Army Band. He is reputed to have been better than adequate as a member of the brass ensemble on "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along". And his solo work on that rousing selection, "Reveille", was so respected by those who heard it that literally hundreds rose to their feet.

In September, 1955 Chet began a European tour which was scheduled for four months but which was stretched to eight, so responsive was Baker's reception.  During this tour, the longest yet made by an American jazzman, Chet made some radio appearances with Kurt Edelhagan's Orchestra. Several air checks of these performances subsequently came to the attention of Bock and Woody Woodward, general manager of Pacific Jazz Enterprises. Both immediately noted that Chet was playing in a much more aggressive manner than they ever had heard him employ. Out of this came the idea of recording Chet with groups which, while relatively small, still would produce a big band sound and provide a suitable showcase for Baker’s lustier blowing. 

Herewith you have the result, and I believe you will find it one of the most intriguing albums Chet yet has made. Three of the tracks are done by an eleven-piece group. On the five other sides Chet leads a nontet.

The arrangements not only capture the big band sound which was sought but, even more importantly, provide a variety of tonal textures, rhythmic patterns and tempos, along with ample solo space, which the top jazz artists who made this date exploit to the fullest.

Adding everything up, there’s only one answer: a most listenable album. *Russ Wilson (liner notes)*

These tracks — essentially by two different sized groups, one of nine and one of 11 musicians — presented Chet to an American record-buying public in an unfamiliar setting, given that hitherto his producer Richard Bock had unstintingly promoted Baker's small group persona. But Chet's lengthy 1955-56 stint in Europe had teamed him up with Kurt Edelhagen's orchestra and more tellingly with a Parisian octet for Barclay Records. Hearing these discs, and realising he had missed a trick, Bock celebrated the trumpeter's return to the West Coast with this pair of sessions, that put his uncharacteristically aggressive trumpet at the head of these larger ensembles. Some of the charts are by Baker's regular small group colleague Phil Urso, some by Jimmy Heath, and some —the least conventional— by the French bassist Pierre Michelot, who had played on the Barclay sessions.

Not surprisingly, Michelot's composition "Chet" makes much of Bond's skilled bass playing, but there are also fine moments crafted to show off Bob Burgess's trombone in this and Michelot's other piece, "Mythe". *Alyn Shipton*

Releasing an entire album under the moniker Chet Baker Big Band is a bit of a misnomer, as only the first four sides actually incorporate an 11-person configuration. The remaining tracks from the long-player feature a slightly smaller nonet configuration. Among the luminaries joining Baker (trumpet) and participating in the big-band arrangements are Art Pepper (alto sax), Bud Shank (alto sax), Phil Urso (tenor sax), and Bobby Timmons (piano). The critical argument proposing that Baker's style is more akin to bop —and the residual post-bop— than the West Coast cool that he is often connected with gets tremendous validation throughout not only the four big-band tracks, but also the remainder of the album. The band bops with tremendous verve behind Baker's unmistakable leads. Jimmy Heath's ultrahip arrangements —especially of "Tenderly" and "A Foggy Day"— allow the soloists to improvise fluidly from within the context of the larger unit. The Pierre Michelot composition "Mythe" is notable for some outstanding soloing from Baker and Timmons. It is a shame that poor master tape editing —a motif that haunts many Dick Bock productions— mars the overall aesthetic. Of the nonet sides, the band really jumps and responds best to the original compositions such as Phil Urso's "Phil's Blues" and "V-Line". The horn blend on these recordings is likewise striking. *Lindsay Planer*

Side 1

1 - A Foggy Day

(George and  Ira Gershwin)

2 - Mythe

(C. H. Chevallier)

3 - Worrying The Life Out Of Me

(Mole, Signorelli, Russell)

4 - Chet

(Pierre Michelot)

5 - Not Too Slow

(C. H. Chevallier)

Side 2

6 - Phil's Blues

(Phil Urso)

7 - Darn That Dream

(DeLange, Van Heusen)

8 - Dinah

(Lewis, Young, Akst)

9 - V-Line

(C. H. Chevallier)

10 - Tenderly

(Gross, Lawrence)

#2, #4, #5, #6, #8, #9:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Bob Burgess (trombone), Phil Urso (alto and tenor saxes), Bob Graf (tenor sax), Fred Waters (alto sax), Bill Hood (baritone sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), Peter Littman (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, October 18, 1956.

#3:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Bob Burgess (trombone), Phil Urso (alto and tenor saxes), Bob Graf (tenor sax), Fred Waters (alto sax), Bill Hood (baritone sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), James McKean (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, October 19, 1956.

#1, #7, #10:

Chet Baker, Conte Candoli, Norman Faye (trumpets); Frank Rosolino (trombone); Art Pepper, Bud Shank (alto saxes); Bill Perkins, Phil Urso (tenor saxes); Bobby Timmons (piano); Jimmy Bond (bass); Lawrence Marable (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, October 26, 1956.