Chet Baker Sings
Chet Baker · 1954
Chet Baker Sings is a 1954 Hollywood studio session where Baker—previously almost exclusively a trumpeter—recorded eight ballads as both singer and player. Russ Freeman selected the songs and played piano and celesta. Baker struggled to sing in tune, requiring many takes. Freeman dismissed the project as 'bullshit' compared to Armstrong or Teagarden; Ruth Young observed the lyrics held no meaning for Baker—they were 'mere notes'. The record foregrounds musical abstraction over vocal expression or narrative. It was released by Pacific Jazz Records, drew criticism, and nonetheless helped make Baker the readers’ top jazz vocalist of 1954.