several years ago i said to my local record store owner, 'there has to be music other than nirvana that i will like.' he simply suggested chet baker and i walked home with a collection that began with 'my funny valentine.' you know i was hooked.
since that day i have heard many wonderful melodic jazz interpreters but chet is my favorite guy in the genre. when a dee jay plays someone else's version of a song that chet did, i just do not understand.
i watched bruce weber's documentary of the impossible/irresistible trumpeter on one of my birthdays. i drank it in. the photo you see here is very far from how chet appears in the interviews. long before this 1988 film, the legendary looker lost his luster to years of drug use.
the glimpse we get into his personality is confounding. you love him but maybe don't really like him. sorry, but it's the truth. that said, it is still a great experience and a treasure considering he died the same year it was made.
1 comment:
thanks for expressing that view, admiration for the great 'ones' who shine and make an impression on a job well done, appreciated and lauded by their peers and fans often differ in other facets of their livelihoods that maybe the exact opposite values or belief systems you share.
its that common ground you share but the offshoots can go anywhere else.
makes the statement 'don't worship false idols' more meaningful. we are all mortals born to sin and have the ablity to seek salvation equally.
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