Collection: Chet Baker

Chesney Henry Baker Jr., born in Yale, Oklahoma in 1929, became jazz's most romantically tragic figure, nicknamed "Prince of Cool" for his lyrical, subdued trumpet style and achingly vulnerable vocals. Rising to fame at 23 with Gerry Mulligan's pioneering pianoless quartet in 1952, Baker's rendition of "My Funny Valentine" became his signature, establishing him as the face of West Coast cool jazz. His 1953 and 1954 victories in Metronome and DownBeat polls saw him beat Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, whilst 1954's Chet Baker Sings showcased his light, vibratoless tenor voice, catapulting him to teen idol status alongside James Dean.

Baker's matinee idol looks and breezy California cool masked a lifelong heroin addiction that led to arrests, European deportations, and creative inconsistency throughout the 1960s. Yet his 1959 album Chet, featuring Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, demonstrated his lyrical trumpet mastery at its peak. The 1970s brought a remarkable comeback, with critics praising his late-period European recordings as matching his 1950s work, his tone more intimate and improvisations more forceful despite addiction's toll on his voice. He died falling from an Amsterdam hotel window in 1988 aged 58, his cult following growing posthumously through Bruce Weber's documentary Let's Get Lost and unfinished memoir As Though I Had Wings.