Chet Baker - Five From '65: The Quintet Summer Sessions

[mjzee]

Release date September 12:

Five original studio albums, recorded in New York City across one week in August 1965: Boppin', Smokin', Groovin', Comin' On, Cool Burnin' are being made available on vinyl for the first time in over 50-years. Representing a critical moment in his career, Chet Baker hooked up with a superlative band for these recordings: George Coleman; Kirk Lightsey; Herman Wright and Roy Brooks play throughout on these thrilling sets, which were originally issued by Prestige Recordings. New Land has gained full access to the original analog mono tapes, and Kevin Gray has remastered and cut (AAA), giving them fresh sonic detail. At the centre of this package is a book featuring an incredibly detailed essay by GRAMMY® award nominee James Gavin which intertwines the true story behind these recordings with interviews from those who were involved. Illustrated with rare photographs and ephemera, this is the deepest dive into these recordings to date. These aren't just "late-era" Chet recordings - they're a document of reinvention. For collectors, this fills a crucial gap between his iconic 1950s cool jazz era and his darker 1970s European sessions.

[GA Russell]

It's my recollection that these were pretty much ignored when they were released.  Does anybody remember differently?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

$200? $40 per LP for records that I've seen in the used bins for under $10 before prices went nuts about 5 years ago? When it gets down to $100, I'm in. I only have a couple of these and they're pretty good, but not $40 good.

[JSngry]

23 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

It's my recollection that these were pretty much ignored when they were released.  Does anybody remember differently?

Not so much ignored, they got reviewed and were stocked in stores, but...a lot of things were happening in 1965-66 and I'm not sure that these records were among the most interesting...

Having said that, yeah, they're good. But Chet is the least interesting player on his own records here, imo.

[GA Russell]

Comin' On was one of my first jazz albums.  $1.99 mono in 1968 or '69.

I picked up the first one soon after.  

[JSngry]

Mono!!!

[felser]

These were reissued on three Prestige CD's in the mid-90's.  I discovered them then.  George Coleman and Kirk Lightsey?  Yes, please!

 

 

 

Edited June 18 by felser

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, felser said:

George Coleman and Kirk Lightsey?  Yes, please!

And Roy Brooks too?

[Joe]

This was very much a Richard ("Walkin'") Carpenter venture, yes? IIRC, he was managing Chet at the time. 

[Dub Modal]

11 hours ago, JSngry said:

But Chet is the least interesting player on his own records here, imo

Not just your opinion. Not to slag any of those involved but these are worth it for Coleman who plays excellent across these songs. 

 

[Mark Stryker]

All Detroit rhythm section -- Lightsey, Wright, Brooks. 
 

Smokin' is for me the best of the lot, particularly because Chet plays such a creative and expressive solo on "Have You Met Miss Jones" -- the melodic flow, swinging easy, surfing the beat.
 

I also think it's interesting how his ear leads him astray of the changes on the second bridge to the point where he really clashes with the piano -- in the first bar he lands squarely on a B-flat (trumpet key) on beat 3, the flat seven against C Major. Then in the fourth bar on beat three he lands hard on a D natural, the minor third against the B7 chord -- and you can tell he's not thinking sharp 9 for tension -- because on beat one of the next bar he doesn't resolve to E Major but instead plays a B-flat and for the rest of the bar appears to be outlining E-flat major, a half-step "off." Only in bar 6 does his melody sync back up with the piano. Chet is technically "wrong" but it's oh so right -- sequences, internal logic, expressive melody. 

Edited June 19 by Mark Stryker

[Peter Friedman]

I bought these 5 Prestige Lps when they were first issued. They have long been records I liked very much. Eventually got the 3 CDs that had everything that was on the 5 LPs.

Kirk Lightsey's playing here especially makes these albums among my favorites.

[Holy Ghost]

So no reproductions in a cd format, with no original artwork ( which is really good) shame, skip. 

[Quasimado]

I'm surprised author James Gavin was contracted to write an essay for this package, as from what I recall he trashed Chet's playing credentials in his book "Deep in a Dream". According to Gavin, Chet's popularity was due to a variety of dubious reasons ...