Chet Baker

Chet Baker
Chet Baker (1983)
Background information
Birth name	Chesney Henry Baker
Born	(1929-12-23)December 23, 1929 Yale, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	May 13, 1988(1988-05-13) (aged 58) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Cool jazz, bebop, West Coast jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Trumpet Vocals Flugelhorn Piano
Years active	1949–88
Associated acts	Gerry Mulligan Art Pepper Stan Getz

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, and vocalist.

Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". 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 '80s.

Baker was born and raised in a musical household in Yale, Oklahoma; his father, Chesney Baker, Sr., was a professional guitar player, and his mother, Vera (née Moser) was a talented pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother, Randi Moser, was Norwegian. Baker notes that due to the Great Depression, his father, though talented, had to quit as a musician and take a regular job. Baker began his musical career singing in a church choir. His father introduced him to brass instruments with a trombone, which was replaced with a trumpet when the trombone proved too large. His mother notes that Chet had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was even given an instrument and that after "falling in love" with the trumpet, he already developed noticeably within the first two weeks. Peers later described Baker as a "natural" musician, and that playing came effortlessly to him.

Baker received some musical education at Glendale Junior High School, but left school at the age of 16 in 1946 to join the United States Army. He was posted to Berlin, where he joined the 298th Army band. After leaving the army in 1948, he studied theory and harmony at El Camino College in Los Angeles. He dropped out in his second year, however, re-enlisting in the army in 1950. Baker became a member of the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco, but was soon spending time in San Francisco jazz clubs such as Bop City and the Black Hawk. Baker once again obtained a discharge from the army to pursue a career as a professional musician.