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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

Chet Baker was one of the most important representatives of the West Coast Cool Jazz movement. His heroin addiction is well documented with his exploits and misadventures wrapped in legendary anecdotes, but thankfully his life story never managed to overshadow his unmistakable talent. Chet Baker has one of the most recognisable sounds of all the jazz musicians in the cannon; his trumpet playing is intimate, simple and delicate with a hint of melancholy that tears at the heartstrings.

She Was Too Good To Me was released in 1974 on Creed Taylor's CTI label after a 4 year absence from the scene. And what a comeback: excellent vocal Cool Jazz tunes are interlude with instrumental goodness from the undisputed master of the trumpet. – Music On Vinyl

“Just like "Autumn Leaves" plays to his trumpet, the palpable longing of "She Was Too Good To Me" seems so appropriate for Baker's vocal delivery—worn and weary, singing just as much to himself as to you, lingering almost too long on each word and thought. His vocal phrasing—the way he ends a verse to blend in with the beginning of the next, for example—aches like singer Frank Sinatra in a blue mood, which is to say it is sheer vocal genius. In the closing, wistful "My Future Just Passed," Baker's voice and trumpet both sound so happy to be so sad.” – All About Jazz

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