Chet Baker - Live at Ronnie Scott's

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 in Yale, Oklahoma – May 13, 1988 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands) was an American jazz musician.
Raised in a musical household in Oklahoma (his father was a guitar player), 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 for him. He received some musical eductation at Glendale Junior High School, but left school at age 16 to join the army. He was posted to Berlin where he joined the 298th Army band. Leaving the army in 1948, he studied theory and harmony at El Camino College in Los Angeles. However he dropped out in his second year, and re-enlisted 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 again obtained a discharge from the army to pursue a career as a professional musician. After his untimely death he became a legend in the jazz world. Here in Ronnie Scotts are some of his rare appearances playing contemporary mainstream jazz. Chet Baker/Live At Ronnie Scott's Chet Baker's performance here is both fragile and passionate. Baker is joined by Van Morrison and reunited with Elvis Costello, with whom he recorded Shipbuilding at Ronnie Scott's intimate English club. In interviews with Costello, the pain and happiness hidden between his wrinkled, tired face pour out like so many notes. Chet recalls winning a spot with Charlie Parker's band at the tender age of 22, but humbles himself by confessing to a lifelong addiction to drugs.