Chet Baker - Let's Get Lost (The Best of Chet Baker Sings) (CD)

All Music Guide

For starters, this disc should not be confused with the similarlytitled The Best of Chet Baker Sings: Let's Get Lost (1989) compilation from Blue Note Records. The dozen tracks presented here are from the Bruce Weber biopic Let's Get Lost (1989). Although the film boasts a broad selection of vintage Chet Baker (trumpet/vocal) sides, the accompanying soundtrack contained new recordings with Frank Strazzeri (piano), John Leftwich (bass) and Ralph Penland (drums) backing up the artist. None of the core combo had any notable history with Baker, sans Nicola Stilo (guitar), who plays on “Zingaro" [aka “Portrait In Black White"] and performed off and on with the artist throughout the ‘80s. In fairness, Baker's vocals have always been an acquired taste. Those who enjoy his uniquely understated style will most likely be impressed that the timbre of his pipes may have mellowed, but are far from the debacle some critics have formerly suggested. The breadth of the material spans practically every... facet of Baker's career. He offers a sagelike wisdom to familiar reworkings of “Imagination", “You're My Thrill", “Every Time We Say Goodbye", “Daydream" and “Everything Happens To Me". Similarly, the standards “My One and Only Love", “For Heaven Sake" and “Daydream" are rendered with the same ice on fire that pervaded his original West Coast cool classics. There is also a starkly gorgeous cover of Elvis Costello's “Almost Blue", which may or may not have been a nod to the solo that Baker added to “Shipbuilding" on Costello's Punch The Clock (1984). This reading is a languid melodic masterpiece that sounds as if the (nearly) 60yearold had been doing it for decades. As such, it sits well beside the rest of the effort. The sole caveat of this collection is the lack of an accompanying volume of vintage Baker cuts that had also been used in the show. This would be especially worthwhile seeing as how “Let's Get Lost" is not among the inclusions on this platter. - Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide Read more Less