Chet Baker facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Chet Baker
Chet Baker in 1983
Background information
Birth name	Chesney Henry Baker
Born	(1929-12-23)December 23, 1929 Yale, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	May 13, 1988(1988-05-13) (aged 58) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Cool jazz, bebop, West Coast jazz
Occupations	Musician, singer, composer
Instruments	Trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals, piano
Years active	1949–1988
Labels	Pacific Jazz, RCA, Epic
Associated acts	Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Russ Freeman, Bud Shank

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (born December 23, 1929 – died May 13, 1988) was an American jazz musician. He was famous for playing the trumpet and singing. Chet Baker helped create a style of jazz called cool jazz. Because of his smooth and relaxed playing, people often called him the "Prince of Cool."

Baker became very popular in the 1950s. His albums that featured his singing, like Chet Baker Sings (1954), were especially well-known. A jazz historian named Dave Gelly once said that Baker's early career was like a mix of famous stars. Baker had a strong comeback in his career during the late 1970s and 1980s.

About Chet Baker
Personal Life
Music He Wrote
Chet Baker's Legacy
Awards and Honors
Discography
Filmography
Images for kids
See also

About Chet Baker

Early Life and Music

Chet Baker was born in Yale, Oklahoma, on December 23, 1929. He grew up in a family that loved music. His father, Chesney Baker Sr., was a guitarist, and his mother, Vera Moser, played the piano. Chet said that his father had to stop being a full-time musician because of the Great Depression. In 1940, when Chet was 10, his family moved to Glendale, California.

Chet started his music journey by singing in a church choir. His father first gave him a trombone, but it was too big for him. So, he got a trumpet instead. His mother remembered that Chet could already remember radio tunes before he even had an instrument. After falling in love with the trumpet, he got much better at playing in just two weeks. People who knew him said he was a natural musician.

Baker went to Glendale High School for some music lessons. But he left school at 16 in 1946 to join the United States Army. He was sent to Berlin, Germany, where he played in the 298th Army Band. After leaving the Army in 1948, he studied music at El Camino College in Los Angeles. He left college to join the Army again. He became part of the Sixth Army Band in San Francisco. While there, he spent time playing in jazz clubs. He left the Army for good in 1951 to become a full-time musician.

Starting His Music Career

Baker in 1955

Chet Baker played with other musicians like Vido Musso and Stan Getz. Then, the famous jazz artist Charlie Parker chose him to play in some shows.

In 1952, Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. This group became very popular. Instead of playing the same tunes together, Baker and Mulligan played different but matching melodies. Their song "My Funny Valentine," with a trumpet solo by Baker, became a big hit. This song stayed famous with Baker throughout his career. With the quartet, Baker often played at jazz clubs in Los Angeles.

After a short time, Baker started his own group. It included pianists like Russ Freeman and different bass players and drummers. Baker's quartet released many popular albums between 1953 and 1956. Baker even won polls in Metronome and DownBeat magazines. He was voted better than other famous trumpeters like Miles Davis. In 1954, readers also named Baker the top jazz singer. That same year, Pacific Jazz Records released Chet Baker Sings. This album made him even more famous, and he continued to sing for the rest of his career.

Hollywood studios noticed Baker's good looks. He acted in his first movie, Hell's Horizon, in 1955. But he chose to be a musician on the road instead of signing a movie contract. Over the next few years, Baker led his own bands. In 1955, he had a group with Francy Boland where he played trumpet and sang. In 1956, he toured Europe for eight months and recorded Chet Baker in Europe.

In late 1959, he went back to Europe. He recorded music in Italy with conductor Ezio Leoni. During the 1960s, Baker often played the flugelhorn. He also recorded music that was known as West Coast jazz.

He appeared in the Italian film Howlers in the Dock in 1960. He also played himself in the British film Stolen Hours in 1963.

Later Career and Comeback

Chet Baker (right) and Stan Getz, 1983

After some changes to his mouth (embouchure) for playing, Baker returned to the jazz style he started with. He moved to New York City and began performing and recording again. He played with guitarist Jim Hall. Baker moved back to Europe in the 1970s. A friend, Diane Vavra, helped him with his daily needs and work during his later years.

Near the end of his life, Baker mostly stayed and worked in Europe. He only came back to the U.S. about once a year for performances.

In 1983, British singer Elvis Costello asked Baker to play a trumpet solo on his song "Shipbuilding." This song was on Costello's album Punch the Clock. The song helped new fans discover Baker's music. Later, Baker often played Costello's song "Almost Blue" in his concerts. He also recorded it for the film Let's Get Lost.

In 1986, a film called Chet Baker: Live at Ronnie Scott's London showed Baker playing live. He performed classic songs and talked with Elvis Costello about his childhood and career.

Baker recorded the live album Chet Baker in Tokyo with his band less than a year before he passed away. It was released after his death. He also recorded Silent Nights, an album of Christmas music, in 1986.

In 2006, Jazz Icons: Chet Baker: Live in '64 & '79 was released. It showed two of his European concerts filmed years apart. The 1964 show was in Belgium, and the 1979 show was in Norway.

Passing Away

Plaque at the Hotel Prins Hendrik, in Amsterdam

Chet Baker passed away in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 13, 1988. A special plaque was placed outside the Hotel Prins Hendrik in his memory.

Baker is buried next to his father at the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Personal Life

Chet Baker was married three times. He had four children: Chesney III, Dean, Paul, and Melissa. He was also able to speak Italian fluently.

Music He Wrote

Chet Baker wrote many songs himself. Some of his well-known compositions include "Chetty's Lullaby", "Freeway", "Early Morning Mood", "Two a Day", "So che ti perderò" ("I Know I Will Lose You"), and "Il mio domani" ("My Tomorrow"). He also wrote "The Route", "Skidaddlin'", and "New Morning Blues".

Chet Baker's Legacy

Photographer William Claxton took many pictures of Baker for his book Young Chet: The Young Chet Baker. A documentary film about Baker, Let's Get Lost, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988. The film was made by photographer Bruce Weber. It shows interviews with Baker's friends, family, and other musicians. It also includes old footage of Baker. Some people have said the film focused too much on Baker's later struggles. The film came out four months after Baker passed away.

A play called Time after Time: The Chet Baker Project toured Canada in 2001.

Several books have been written about Chet Baker's life and music. These include Chet Baker: His Life and Music by Jeroen de Valk, Deep in a Dream—The Long Night of Chet Baker by James Gavin, and Funny Valentine by Matthew Ruddick. Baker's own memories are in a book called As Though I Had Wings.

Actors have played Chet Baker in movies. Ethan Hawke played him in the 2015 film Born to Be Blue. This movie imagined parts of Baker's career in the late 1960s. Steve Wall played Baker in the 2018 film My Foolish Heart.

Musicians have also paid tribute to Chet Baker. American singer-songwriter David Wilcox included a song about him on his 1991 album. Brazilian jazz pianist Eliane Elias dedicated her 2013 album I Thought About You to Chet Baker.

Australian musician Nick Murphy chose "Chet Faker" as his stage name to honor Baker. Murphy said he admired Baker's "fragile vocal style." He wanted his own music to pay tribute to the mood of Baker's music.

Awards and Honors

Chet Baker received many awards and honors for his music:

He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1987.
He entered the DownBeat magazine Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991.
His album Chet Baker Sings (1956) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2001.
In 2005, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and the Oklahoma House of Representatives declared "Chet Baker Day."
A Chet Baker Jazz Festival was held in his honor in Yale, Oklahoma, in 2015.
The Forlì Jazz Festival in Italy honored Chet Baker in 2018.

Discography

Filmography

(1955) Hell's Horizon, by Tom Gries: actor
(1959) Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti, by Nanni Loy: music
(1960) Howlers in the Dock, by Lucio Fulci: actor
(1963) Ore rubate ["stolen hours"], by Daniel Petrie: music
(1963) Tromba Fredda, by Enzo Nasso: actor and music
(1963) Le concerto de la peur, by José Bénazéraf: music
(1964) L'enfer dans la peau, by José Bénazéraf: music
(1964) Nudi per vivere, by Elio Petri, Giuliano Montaldo and Giulio Questi: music
(1988) Let's Get Lost, by Bruce Weber: music