Chet Baker And His Quintet With Bobby Jaspar: In Paris, Vol. 3

Following an offer from Nicole Barclay, Chet Baker came to Paris at the beginning of September 1955. On the 22nd - or maybe the 23rd - he signed a contract to record seven records ... (the number was later removed and replaced by the number three, which then turned out to be true). Released after the trumpeter's return to the USA, this record was quite poorly cobbled together compared to the other two of the trilogy, all the more so because the liner notes, quickly scribbled, did not correspond to the usual standard. Unlike earlier works, this was in no way a concept album: it was content with a simple overview of Chet's Parisian connections, depending on where his preferences had led him during his stay.
When Chet entered the Pathé-Magellan studio on October 25, there was only one member of the trio that originally accompanied him: pianist Dick Twardzik had died of a heroin overdose and drummer Peter Littman had returned home after selling his drums to the highest bidder. Jimmy Bond, however, was still there with his double bass and in the octet session recorded the following, Chet's melodic talent was further enhanced by the (remarkable) music written by Pierre Michelot and Christian Chevalier.
The three pieces were, so to speak, mini-concerts; the trumpeter liked them so much that he took them up again, back in the USA, albeit with less success. On November 28, Chet appeared in the same studio, but this time with Raymond Fol on piano, Benoît Quersin on bass and Jean-Louis Viale on drums. They recorded two improvisations: the first was based on the standard 1932 piece by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, "Alone Together"; the second began with "Exitus," a composition by Phil Urso, one of Baker's friends.
These performances are among the most beautiful Chet produced at the time, as are "Chekeeta" – or Chik-Etah – and "How About You?"; they sealed a partnership that had begun at Club Saint Germain and was resurrected on the occasion of those performances that were announced as follows: "Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from 16.30h to 19.30h at Barclay's Club – Rue Saint-Benoît No. 13, Paris – Bobby Jaspar Quintet with the American trumpeter Chet Baker«.
This format was stylistically ideal and led Chet Baker to abandon the quartet formation he had preferred until then. In order to complete the next booked gigs, Chet had to get a stable band together, so he chose Raph Schecroun as his pianist – who later became known as Errol Parker – and who himself was replaced by Francy Boland. Among them were bassist Eddie de Haas, who had previously played with Martial Solal, and Henri Renaud (the latter also lost his drummer Charles Saudrais, who was only seventeen, in the course of the adventure). Jean-Louis Chautemps wrote, "When Bobby Jaspar couldn't join in or asked too much, they were looking for someone cheaper; and that was me. There was no real audition: we were in tabou, I played with Chet, he agreed and two days later we were in Reykjavik, Iceland." The piece "Tasty Pudding", written by Al Cohn, and "Anticipated Blues", one of the rare pieces that Chet claimed to have written, were part of the repertoire played in this last Baker-led formation on the old continent.
Both pieces once again moved Pierre Michelot to make the following judgment: "With very simple means, Chet was able to play phrasings of extraordinary beauty full of simplicity and clarity."

Features:

• Limited Edition - 2000 Copies
• 180g Vinyl LP
• Remastered from Original Master Tapes
• Pressed by Optimal in Germany

Musicians:

• Chet Baker (tp)
• Benny Vasseur (tb)
• Bobby Jaspar, Jean-Louis Chautemps (ts)
• Rene Urtreger, Francy Boland (p)
• Jimmy Bond, Benoit Quersin, Eddie De Haas (b)
• Nils-Bertil Dahlander, Charles Saudrais (dr)

Selections:

Side A
1. How About You
2. Once in a while
3. Chekeetah
4. Alone Together
5. Chet
Side B
1. Dinah
2. Tasty Pudding
3. Anticipated Blues
4. Vline
5. Exitus

Recorded February 13 and 14, 1958 in Paris