Baking With Chet

 

Chet Baker - Chet Baker And His Quintet With Bobby Jaspar [SR06/1 FRA 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]

Fred Thomas's quality Parisian boutique label, Sams Records have been carving themselves quite a niche in the jazz reissue market. Chet Baker was among a number of American musicians who temporarily relocated to Paris in the mid-fifties to perform, and ultimately record for Eddie Barclay's Barclay Records. Sams Records have successfully dug deep into the archives of French jazz recordings to secure (& bake) the original master tapes for their all-analogue 180gm vinyl releases wrapped in glossy & thick reproduction tip-on sleeves. 

This particular album was recorded over sessions between October 1955 and February 1956 at the Studio Pathé-Magellan in Paris with a mixture of French & Belgian musicians including the great Belgian saxophonist Bobby Jasper.

The original version of this album was released in France in 1956 and renamed I Get Chet for its 1957 UK release. Originals fetch big bucks these days, especially among American collectors as Barclay recordings were never available in the USA. It is also safe to assume that this new pressing will always sound better than even the mintiest of mint originals.

Whilst the mono recording is not of the same standard of, say a Rudy Van Gelder production for Blue Note, and the Paris studio acoustics add considerably more air than the great American studios, the sound of six jazz musicians playing at the top of their game makes for great Jazz Sunday listening. You will have to crank this up at home as the vinyl is mastered both carefully and quietly.

A1 How About You

A2 Once In A While

A3 Chekeetah

A4 Alone Together

A5 Chet

B1 Dinah

B2 Tasty Pudding

B3 Anticipated Blues

B4 Vline

B5 Exitus