Chet Baker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Baker in 1983 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Chesney Henry Baker Jr. |
| Born | December 23, 1929 Yale, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | May 13, 1988 (aged 58) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1949–1988[1] |
| Labels | |
| Spouses | Charlaine Souder
(m. 1950, divorced)Halema Alli
(m. 1956; div. 1964)Carol Ann Jackson (m. 1964) |
| Partners |
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Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".[2]
Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: Chet Baker Sings (1954) and It Could Happen to You (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one".[3] 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 1980s.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Ruhlmannwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Carr, Roy (December 2, 2004). "A century of jazz". London : Hamlyn – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Gelly, Dave (2000). Icons of Jazz: A History in Photographs, 1900–2000 (North American ed.). San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press. ISBN 1-57145-268-0.
- ^ Leland, John (October 5, 2004), Hip: The History, HarperCollins, pp. 265–, ISBN 978-0-06-052817-1, retrieved November 13, 2015