Baker, Chet - Chet Baker and his quintet with Bobby Jasper (Chet Baker in Paris vol 3) LP
In October 1955, Chet Baker and his Quartet are to give a series of concerts, notably in France. Many French people expected a playboy and dilettante trumpeter to get off the plane; the man who arrived was someone who lived only for, and by, his art. A first album recorded in Paris placed him in the jazz avant-garde; the series of recordings that followed formed the private journal of someone so incapable of hiding his emotions that he sublimated them in the only way he knew: in music.
Recorded for the Barclay label between Autumn 1955 and Spring 1956 at Studio Pathé-Magellan in Paris, these sessions are now part of history.
Volume One brings together the first two sessions recorded October 11 and 14, 1955. With Richard "Dick" Twardzik on piano, Jimmy Bond on bass and Peter Littmann on drums, Chet performs eight originals of Robert L. 'Bob' Zieff ('Rondette', 'Pièce-Caprice', 'Mid-Forte', Re-Search', Pomp', 'Sad Walk', 'Just Duo', 'Brash'), plus a solitary contribution from Twardzik ('The Girl From Greenland').
On Volume Two, recorded October 24, just three days after Twardzik's passing (due to an overdose), Chet leads his quartet with only Jimmy Bond left from his original accompanying trio, young French pianist Gérard Gustin and Swedish drummer Nils-Bertil Dahlander (filling in Peter Littman who returned to America). Given the context, they fall back on standards, Chet chosing eight: 'These Foolish Things', 'There's a Small Hotel', 'Autumn In New York', 'Summertime', 'You Go To My Head', 'Tenderly', 'I'll Remember April' and 'Lover Man'. The whole session exudes a kind of sadness that's impossible to put down, whatever the choice of tune or tempo.
Titled « Chet Baker and His Quintet with Bobby Jaspar », the Volume Three brings together music from a few different sessions recorded between October 25, 1955 and February 1, 1956. However, only one session (December 26) contains Jaspar on tenor saxophone, performing 'Chik-Eta' and 'How About You?'. The other sessions feature Baker leading groups with variable formation: quartet (performing 'Alone Together', 'Exitus', 'Once in a While'), quintet (with Jean-Louis Chautemps on tenor performing 'Tasty Pudding' and 'Anticipated Blues') or octet (performing 'Chet', 'Dinah', 'Vline'). Despite having been construed as rather a poor relation opposite the others in the trilogy, this last volume contains performances which are among the most beautiful that Chet Baker produced during this period.
- Limited edition 1-LP 180gm pressings of the three original Chet Baker in Paris albums originally released on Barclay Records: "Chet Baker Quartet" volumes 1 and 2 and "Chet Baker and his quintet with Bobby Jaspar".
- Remastered from original master tapes and presented in single sleeves with original jackets and liner notes
Side 1
HOW ABOUT YOU? (B. Lane)
ONCE IN A WHILE (M. Edwards ∙ Green)
CHIK-ETA (Phil Urso)
ALONE TOGETHER (H. Dietz ∙ A. Schwartz)
CHET (P. Michelot)
Side 2
DINAH (Akst ∙ Young Lewis) (Arr. P. Michelot)
TASTY PUDDING (Al Cohn)
ANTICIPATED BLUES (Chet Baker)
VLINE (Ch. Chevallier)
EXITUS (Phil Urso)
Chet Baker, trumpet ∙ Bobby Jaspar, tenor sax (A1, A3) ∙ Armand Migiani, tenor sax (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Jean-Louis Chautemps, tenor sax (B2, B3) ∙ Jimmy Bond, double bass (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Benoît Quersin, double bass (A1–A4, B5) ∙ Eddie de Haas, double bass (B2–3) ∙ Jean-Louis Viale, drums (A1–4, B5) ∙ Bert Dahlander,drums (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Charles Saudrais, drums (B2–3) ∙ René Urtreger, piano (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Raymond Fol, piano (A2, A4, B5) ∙ Francy Boland, piano (B2–3) ∙ Bernard Vasseur, trombone (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Jean Aldegon, alto sax (A5, B1, B4) ∙ William Boucaya,baritone sax (A5, B1, B4) ∙ Pierre Michelot, conductor (A5, B1, B4)