{"id":10925,"date":"2018-12-23T10:45:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T16:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.252.102.210\/~micklabr\/?p=10925"},"modified":"2018-12-23T10:45:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T16:45:06","slug":"chet-baker-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/micklabriola.com\/chet-baker-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Chet Baker Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chesney Henry<\/b> “Chet<\/b>” Baker Jr.<\/b> (December 23, 1929 \u2013 May 13, 1988) was an American jazz<\/a> trumpeter and vocalist.<\/p>\n

Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings<\/a><\/i>, It Could Happen to You<\/a><\/i>). Jazz historian Dave Gelly<\/a> described the promise of Baker’s early career as “James Dean<\/a>, Sinatra<\/a>, and Bix<\/a>, rolled into one.”<\/sup> His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and ’80s.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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Baker was born and raised in a musical household in Yale<\/a>, Oklahoma. His father, Chesney Baker Sr., was a professional guitarist, and his mother, Vera Moser, was a pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother was Norwegian.<\/sup> Baker said that due to the Great Depression, his father, though talented, had to quit as a musician and take a regular job.<\/p>\n

Baker’s compositions included “Chetty’s Lullaby<\/a>“, “Freeway<\/a>“, “Early Morning Mood”, “Two a Day”, “So che ti perder\u00f2<\/a>” (“I Know I Will Lose You”), “Il mio domani<\/a>” (“My Tomorrow”), “Motivo su raggio di luna<\/a>” (“Contemplate on a Moonbeam”), “The Route”, “Skidaddlin'”, “New Morning Blues”, “Blue Gilles”, “Dessert”, “Anticipated Blues”, “Blues for a Reason”<\/sup>, “We Know It’s Love”, and “Looking Good Tonight”.<\/p>\n

Early on May 13, 1988, Baker was found dead on the street below his hotel room in Amsterdam<\/a>, with serious wounds to his head, apparently having fallen from the second floor window.<\/sup> Heroin and cocaine<\/a> were found in his room and in his body. There was no evidence of a struggle, and the death was ruled an accident. A plaque outside the hotel memorializes him.<\/p>\n