Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen To You (Remastered) Chet Baker

• 1 Do It The Hard Way 02:57
• 2 I'm Old Fashioned 05:00
• 3 You're Driving Me Crazy 02:52
• 4 It Could Happen To You 02:48
• 5 My Heart Stood Still 03:24
• 6 The More I See You 03:01
• 7 Everything Happens To Me 05:01
• 8 Dancing On The Ceiling 03:05
• 9 How Long Has This Been Going On? 04:06
• 10 Old Devil Moon 02:54
• Total Runtime 35:08

Info for Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen To You (Remastered)

(Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You is an album by jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker. It follows a formula similar to two other Baker albums, Chet Baker Sings (1954) and Chet Baker Sings and Plays with Bud Shank, Russ Freeman & Strings (recorded in 1955, released in 1964) in which he sings traditional pop standards in a jazzy fashion. Unlike the aforementioned records, on It Could Happen to You, on a few tracks, Baker plays no trumpet whatsoever, opting to scat in place of an instrumental solo.

"The ultra-hip and sophisticated "cool jazz" that Chet Baker (trumpet/vocals) helped define in the early '50s matured rapidly under the tutelage of producer Dick Bock. This can be traced to Baker's earliest sides on Bock's L.A.-based Pacific Jazz label. This album is the result of Baker's first sessions for the independent Riverside label. The Chet Baker Quartet featured on Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen to You includes Kenny Drew (piano), Sam Jones (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). (Performances by bassist George Morrow and drummer Dannie Richmond are featured on a few cuts.) This results in the successful combination of Baker's fluid and nonchalant West Coast delivery with the tight swinging accuracy of drummer Jones and pianist Drew. Nowhere is this balance better displayed than the opening and closing sides on the original album, "Do It the Hard Way" and "Old Devil Moon," respectively. One immediate distinction between these vocal sides and those recorded earlier in the decade for Pacific Jazz is the lissome quality of Baker's playing and, most notably, his increased capacity as a vocalist. The brilliant song selection certainly doesn't hurt either. This is an essential title in Chet Baker's 30-plus year canon. [Some reissues contain two bonus tracks, "I'm Old Fashioned" and "While My Lady Sleeps"]." (Lindsay Planer, AMG)

Chet Baker, vocals, trumpet
Kenny Drew, piano
George Morrow, bass (1–2, 5, 7–8, 14)
Sam Jones, bass (3–4, 6, 9–13)
Philly Joe Jones, drums (1–2, 5–8, 10–14)
Dannie Richmond, drums (3–4, 9)

Recorded August 1958 at Reeves Sound Studios, New York City
Produced by Bill Grauer

Digitally remastered

Chet Baker Trumpeter and singer Chet Baker encountered jazz when playing with Army bands where he quickly developed his distinctive style. A short stint with Charlie Parker (1952) was followed by a long association with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. The pianoless quartet performed and recorded with great success - immediate fame came to Chet Baker and his cool, subdued style. His lyricism became typically associated with West Coast jazz and found many followers around the world. Baker led his own groups after leaving Mulligan for many years in both the US and Europe. His career became somewhat erratic in the sixties when he lived and worked mostly in Europe.

In the seventies he began his comeback and his very unique talent as a vocalist and instrumentalist soon put him back on the major concert stages. Excellent albums were done during the last ten years of his life which were maybe less perfect than his early West Coast work in the technical sense but showed a depth of feeling and intensity rarely heard. Luckily his last concert was recorded: it is one of the finest of his career (The Last Concert ENJ-6074 22). Chet Baker was very involved with the production of the concert, choose the music well in advance which was arranged for an ensemble consisting of a regular bigband, a symphony orchestra and a jazz quintet. He was very happy that he could finally record and perform under the best of circumstances. That night's version of My Funny Valentine,a song he had performed uncountable times before will stand out for all times as an absolute masterpiece of vocal jazz.

Dec. 23, 1929 (Yale, Oklahoma) - May 13, 1988 (Amsterdam).

This album contains no booklet.