Thursday, April 14, 2011

Chet Baker

Chet Baker is probably my favorite jazz musician, that's why I took his picture as background for my blog.
I hate how some people say that jazz is only for black people. Agreed, most of the jazz musicians I listen to are black, because in fact, most jazz musicians are black. But that doesn't necessarily mean that white people can't make jazz, does it? Of course not.
But that's not what I want to discuss.
Chet Baker played the trumpet, but was also a very talented singer. His voice is as soft as a morning sunrise, I'm sure you'll agree with me when you hear his work.
Great musicians often have big problems and Chet wasn't an exception; when he first started, he was a very good looking young man, who could easily have been a movie star. Unfortunately, like many other musicians, Chet Baker developed a heroin habit, and after some time there was not much left of his good looks. His music, however, was still brilliant.

He died May 13, 1988 (aged 58) in Amsterdam. He fell (jumped?) out of a second floor window of a hotel. The autopsy showed there was heroin and cocaine in his body.
His life may have been affected negatively by the drug habit, his music was always great. Smooth melodies, a very melodic style, ah what the hell, let's just listen!
Once again, goes great with Rainy Mood (top right of the page)!



Almost Blue is one of the most touching pieces of music I have ever heard. Jazz is one of those genres where you can actually feel the emotion though the music. You can really hear the melancholy in Chet's voice by the way he sings the song. In my opinion, the emotions give an extra perspective to the music.





Stick around, because I will post tons more of Chet's music in the future!


-Wink

2 comments:

  1. sucks he jumped out the window, who knows what other great songs he could of made thanks for sharing

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  2. Thats too bad hes was a great musician

    ReplyDelete