Now, admittedly I'm not a fan of too much jazz music, but that's mainly because I can't handle the self-indulgence of long solos or the arrogance of many jazz musicians. In fact, if you look back on Chet's career, releasing this album killed his credibility in the jazz scene. He went from being a hip trumpet player to being a pop singer, basically. Personally, I think its the smartest move he's ever made.

This album is amazing. I like it more than any other jazz album I've ever heard, and despite what I said earlier, I do listen to quite a bit of jazz (how can you hate an entire style?). So that being said, why do I like this album? Because Chet has an incredibly seductive, relaxing voice. These songs are beautiful and he sings them with a croon that rivals Sinatra for originality and beauty. He was a serious heroin addict and at one time was followed around by all of the newspapers like some celebrities are today. However, he got too far into it and eventually ended up committing suicide by jumping out of a hotel room window (though its disputed that he might have fallen while under the influence of heroin).

Like many other of my favorite singer/songwriters (Elliott Smith, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Brad Nowell) Chet had a lot of pain in his life when he wrote his songs. For whatever reason, this tends to lead musicians to sound more emotionally authentic in their music. Chet's music has relaxed me and brought me near tears before by virtue of its being so emotionally honest and raw. It helps that the songs are great already and Chet sings them like they're his. This is the best relaxation cd out there, period, and Chet is one of the best vocalists, jazz or otherwise, that I've ever had the pleasure to be exposed to. Go on, listen for yourself.

Chet Baker was a fine trumpet player, had a cool West Coast jazz style that fit well in the clubs and was well respected among his contempories. He blew sweet and short, not necessarily long blown out improvisation. For those younger, he was like George Harrison, he hit the right notes at the right time with a sense of melody and a knowing of the song. He didn't have to strut, he strolled the street like he owned it, happy as could be.

What happened was, Chet was asked to sing a tune or two. He got drunk, sang, and was as flat as a soaked Manhattan coaster on a two drink minimun table for two. He sang off key, off the shoulder, off the edge, and weary eyes blinked. Couples snuggled. She kicked her shoes off under the table, her "friend" threw dollars at the waiter and they both knew somethin' new. Possibly another drink or two...

Chet sang in a smokey voice, winked at them, coughed and sang...
"My Funny Valentine" worse than boyfriend could as he whispered...eager and excited and as "whoops" as the snap of his H C major coda.

This CD is a fine introduction...
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Don't listen to this album after a bad break up! Most of the tracks are about being lonely and heart broken. Great cool jazz sound with Baker's unique singing voice. Although his voice didn't have much of a range and he misses a few notes here and there, it's still a great album.

My GOSH this is a good album. Good heavens. I had never heard of Chet Baker as of a few years ago (hey, I'm 24 now... it takes me a while to catch on to these things). Occasionally on Turner Classic Movies I would hear a lovely little tune before the morning movie-- the words were cute and the singer and accompaniment were very pleasant. I finally looked up the song online and saw it was a 1920 Jerome Kern tune, "Look For the Silver Lining" and I thought, 'oh, interesting... well, I guess maybe they're using this song because it's public domain or something." Actually, no, they were using it because not just its age but also its great recording by not some studio musician but an actual famous person... Chet Baker.

A lot of people complain that even his admirers admit that he "can't sing." I don't think that's true. Granted, my favorite singers are so-called 'real singers' like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, or, to name a woman, Margaret Whiting. However! Jimmy Durante and Louis Armstrong had significantly more bizarre singing voices than Chet Baker, but they were always perfectly on tune and sang great songs with great arrangements, so people loved their vocals (especially loved are some of the lush pop arrangements both artists recorded in their later years). The same with Chet: the arrangements are minimalist, understated, and just perfect for the songs, and his fragile and always-just-right vocals leave you hanging on every delightful lyric. Never too much or too little on these songs. The best word has been said by others... "disarming".

Some of my favorites from this album, other than 'Silver Lining', include the fantastic Gershwin tune 'But Not For Me' in a rather upbeat setting (compared to Ella's, for instance), the tenderly rueful 'I Get Along Without You Very Well', 'Let's Get Lost', and a pensive song I learned to love after hearing it by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, 'My Ideal.' He picked some interesting tunes to record... often lesser-known songs by better known writers were in his repertoire.

I'm sorry such people have a negative view of his vocals, but these recordings really melt your heart with his baring-it-all sound and the piano and rhythm accompaniment add just the right touch to the mix. I have 700+ albums including CDs and records and I have been listening to this thing like crazy all week since I got it.

This album is a steal. It's great background music or wonderful to put on and ponder. Stop reading this and buy it right now!

The Best of Chet Baker Sings CHET DEFINES THE WEST COAST SCHOOL OF COOL. HIS VOICE IS EXTREMELY EXPRESSIVE. HE INTERPRETS "STANDARDS" AS NEW MATERIAL. THERE ARE EXCELLANT TRUMPET SOLOS AS WELL.