Sam Records Barclay 84017 Chet Baker Quartet s/t

This session was recorded at Studio Pathe-Magellan in Paris, on Monday October 24, 1955 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. On October 24th only Jimmy Bond was still with Chet: Peter littman had returned to America, and his seat was now accupied by Nils-Bertil ‘Bert’ Dahlander, a Swedish drummer who’d accompanied Lars Gullin. At the keyboard was an almost-unknown pianist named Gérard Gustin who’d just been signed to a contract by Eddie Barclay. Given the context, they were obliged to fall back on standards. Chet knew how to play these better than anyone. He chose eight: "These Foolish Things", which stayed in his quartet’s répertoire for a while, and five others, which the trumpeter performs here for the first time: "There’s a Small Hotel", "Autumn In New York", "Summertime", "You Go To My Head", "Tenderly – and two - "I’ll Remember April" and "Lover Man" – that he’d done less than ten days earlier together with Lars Gullin and Dick Twardzik, whose disappearance was still something Chet refused to accept. Given this state of affairs, the whole session exudes a kind of sadness that’s impossible to put down, whatever the choice of tune or tempo. Never before had Chet been as totally moving as he is throughout "You Go To My Head".

Recording: in mono

"Chet Baker Quartet" - Chet Baker (tp); Gérard Gustin (p); Jimmy Bond (b); Nils-Bertil ‘Bert’ Dahlander (dr)