Customer Reviews

The Route

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4 star:		(2)
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This isn't my favorite Chet Baker recording but it is a good one and significant that it's one of the few with Art Pepper, another cornerstone of the west coast sound pioneered in the 1950's. The mix of tunes includes some ballads and up tempo stuff as well as a mix or standards and original compositions (or at least some "new" standards from the "California cool" library). Pepper's very fluid here and Baker is good but not in peak form, certainly not as melodic or inventive as in some of his Mulligan collaborations but he holds your interest. If you're a fan of the west coast genre, this should be in your library.

This July 1956, date brought Baker and alto saxophonist Art Pepper together, with the results being a superb jazz session. "Tynan time" is a neat tune taken up-tempo--just right. Richie Kamuca is the tenorman on the date, and he is featured on "If I should lose you," another highlight on the CD. This was West Coast jazz at its finest. Highly recommended.

This disc was done in 89' so the matter of good remastering and CD transfers was just in it's early stages. What does this mean? Muddy mids and highs, a lack of clarity and fidelity. The best thing to do is purchace a JP import, as they care more about such matters; usually they lease the tapes for limited ed. releases. jb