Customer Reviews

She Was Too Good To Me

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I believe this is one of Chet's finest recordings.All tunes are beautiful.Don Sebesky's arrangements are beautiful. The band consists of all first rate players such as Ron Carter, Bob James, Steve Gadd, Jack DeJohnette,Hubert Laws, Paul Desmond and other fine players as well as a String section.Chet sings on "She Was Too Good to Me", "With A Song In My Heart","What'll I Do" and "My Future Just Passed".His voice, in my opinion is good here.I have to mention that on "She Was Too Good To Me", there is a quote from "The Man In My Little Girl's Life" , a very nice touch to such a gorgeous tune.Chet is at his very best here.Bob James, Paul Desmond and Hubert Laws(Funk In Deep Freeze) are at top form here.This is another of my all time favorites and I cannot recommend it too highly.(VLS)

Chet Baker entered my life before I was a teenager, when someone in my family brought the classic "Chet Baker and Strings" into our home -- presumably by accident -- and left it sitting around for a few weeks. Since no one at home listened to LPs (except my Dad's Opera sets), any albums (from Gilbert and Sullivan to Tchaikovsky to Sigmind Romberg) not played within a short time after their arrival in the home simply moved upstairs became mine. Hence, Chet Baker was my first introduction to Jazz. Diluted by the string arrangements, to be sure, but Jazz it was (including, e.g., the late great Zoot Sims)!

That was the 1950s. I returned to jazz and to Chet Baker after many years, during which Chet's life (and especially his teeth) had gone to [his addiction], and he had regained his chops with amazing effort. Now, again, he was beginning to rise in the public eye -- though nothing like the interest triggered by his death some years later (walking out of a 2nd story wondow "by accident"). One of the prominent comeback albums when I checked back in was the gorgeous, "She Was Too Good to Me."

Like my much earlier introduction, this album is lush with strings, and rich, crystal clear production. (Many of the also-lyrical 1950s albums are musically superb, but lacking clear production.) Here, though, I was introduced to my first Chet Baker vocals, later learning that this was among his most tuneful, on-key vocal sessions.

Chet Baker is the most lyrical of all jazz trumpeters -- even including the extraordinary Joe Wilder and Joe Newman. Chet's tone is always thick and buttery, rather than sharp and brassy. (Thinking only of his trumpet's tone, the buttery texture of Chuck Mangione's horn comes to mind, although Chet dwarf's Mangione in every respect.) His improvisations are always gracefully inventive, never edgy or harsh. The songs he plays are quite recognizeable, but the listener is always taught something new about the song's full possibilities. These qualities are shown nowhere as clearly as on this great album. Several of these songs have received too little cover during the decades of jazz -- notably the title cut and the infectious, "With A Song in My Heart" (Mom's favorite!). And unlike the vast majority of Chet's vocals, especially his later vocals after the ..problems had seemingly taken over -- his voice here is consistently as true as his honey sweet horn -- on key, gentle, seductively challenging, musically precise.

When speaking to someone interested in first "getting into" jazz, but put off by it's initial incoherence, this is always my recommendation. Accessible but smart; smooth but challenging; and always seductively appealing. This is music which is quick to please, yet never stale.

With his brilliant rhythm section, especially Jack DeJohnette's powerful drive, Chet Baker delivers a combination of honey-smooth vocal ballads with lyrical trumpet lines, and swingin bop tunes that capture the brilliance of Baker's improvisation.

Chet is still in good voice, and you couldn't ask for a better program of songs, but I wish I'd taken the original date of release more seriously. Drop the needle--not for an instant is there a doubt about which decade this performance belongs to--not because of the performance but the synthesizers, electronic instruments, processed sounds, reverb--all adding up to a spongy if not mushy, slightly smarmy experience for some of us. I'd rather hear Chet having trouble enunciating his words on an '80s session than be reminded of some of the excesses of the '70s. Having "hooked" my daughter on Chet Baker, I thought this one might be a nice follow-up for her, but now I don't think I'll risk it (can't stand the thought of the music being called "cheesy").

The best of Chet as a vocalist is "Chet Baker Sings" (1954), but Chet as a musician is at his best as a trumpet player. And his most personal, introspective, minimalist playing--perhaps because of the presence of Bill Evans and an East Coast rhythm section--is to be found on "Chet" (Riverside, 1959). Be careful about not only the '70s recordings but the anthologies.

According to the liner notes, this 1974 album is "Chet's first major recording since the night in San Francisco in '68 when five junkies relieved him of his dope money and his teeth and made him decide he'd have to give up heroin or die." Very dramatic picture, but the fact of the matter is this album is superlative. It's different from the Chet Baker I'm familiar with -- the slow, languid player from albums like Grey December or Baby Breeze. Some of that is here too, but the tempo is a bit faster and the tunes are more upbeat. His playing is precise, the arrangements are nice, and his vocal delivery is beautiful. By 1974 he'd already put himself through the proverbial wringer, but this album is proof that there was still greatness in him.

You hear Chet play on some recordings and you hear him sing on others. You like some albums, but not every song. But this one is an outstanding recording and pure delight in every sound!
Thanks to KCSM for introducing it to me!

Everytime I think I own just about everything Baker recorded, a CD will come along with a couple of cuts I don't have, and, of course, I have to pick it up. In this instance they were; Funk in Deep Freeze, My Future Just Passed, and, the one that caught my eye, With a Song In My Heart.
As one critic noted, Baker's voice is an aquired taste. However, once aquired, it is adicting, and while his vocal on With a Song In My Heart will never compare with Jane Froman's, it is comfy and a heck of a lot easier to sing along with, and the instrumental portion is great.
Overall, this CD features great trumpet work and good solid vocals. None of the choir-boy-with-a-changing-voice effect that you frequently got from Baker.
Favorite cuts: Autumn Leaves, She Was Too Good To Me, Funk In Deep Freeze and What'll I do

This is one of the best recordings ever. From Bird to Miles to modern acid jazz, Chet is on top of it here. This was my introduction to Chet Baker. With Paul Desmond, Hubert Laws, and the rest of the CTI group. Most of these guys had been playing together since the mid 50's at Blue Note. Creed Taylor put them in Rudy Van Gelders Studio and made magic. A lot of the time strings don't work with jazz. On this it works. It works good. Chet's playing is possibly the best he ever blew. I have heard most, if not all of his recordings. Everyone on this is in top form. Bob James playing real jazz on the keyboard. Ron Carter keeping perfect time on the bass. Wow. Give this one a listen. You deserve it.

CD was as advertised. Item was sent in reasonable time. Item was in good condition when recieved.