Time moves inexorably on and suddenly, or so it seems, it’s been seventy years since the release of Chet Baker Sings. Now a new generation of artists, many from outside the jazz sphere, have brought their own interpretations of songs recorded by Baker to a new double album, Chet Baker Re:imagined.
To be precise, it’s been seventy-one years since Chet Baker Sings appeared, as an eight track ten-inch LP. The track list on Chet Baker Re:imagined doesn’t simply copy the list of this or later versions, leaving out numbers including “My Buddy” and adding what are probably more familiar songs such as “Old Devil Moon” and “Speak Low.” It’s unclear who selected the artists, but the mix of voices, arrangements and interpretations is inspired, so “Thanks” to the anonymous person/s responsible.
Chet Baker Re:imagined features fifteen different acts, each with one song. They range from trumpeters Ife Ogunjobi (from Ezra Collective) and Poppy Daniels, who perform “Speak Low” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” as instrumentals, through Sarah Kang, who mixes hip-hop beats and Takahiro Izumikawa’s acoustic piano on “I’m Old Fashioned,” to Stacey Ryan’s soulful reworking of “Like Someone in Love.” Most perform with small band lineups, but Delaney Bailey’s “My Lady Sleeps” is a solo vocal/acoustic guitar recording, and Ogunjobi’s number is a septet performance.
There are plenty of highlights on Chet Baker Re:imagined (this review is of the vinyl version, well-packaged and with excellent sound). grentperez takes a mere 127 seconds to deliver a beautiful version of “But Not for Me,” complete with a too-brief trumpet solo from Tom Avgenicos and set to a gentle samba groove — it already has over 2 million streams on Spotify. grentperez is one of the artists whose fragile, light, vocal style most closely resembles Baker’s own. Benny Sings is another, a delicate voice that perfectly suits the gently swinging “Time After Time” — Sings refers to Baker’s voice as having “soft power,” which seems like a suitable description of Sings’s vocal style too. dodie’s Old Devil Moon is delightful; shifting rhythms, slinky backing and dodie’s own warm clarinet sound make this an immediately engaging interpretation. mxmtoon’s “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” recorded in Nashville, features another lovely vocal, plus sympathetic solos from Kelly Pratt on trumpet and Andy Cata on piano. All three arrangements could fit neatly into Chet Baker Sings. Matt Maltese gets the job of interpreting “My Funny Valentine” and does it proud. His version is reminiscent of Rufus Wainwright more than Chet Baker, which adds to the song’s quirky romance to create one of the album’s finest selections.
Various artist “tribute” albums can be curates’ eggs: a couple of big name acts genuinely inspired by the original artist plus a bunch of minor players offering less than inspired takes on music they never really have any affinity with. So it’s pleasing to report that Chet Baker Re:imagined is a joy, an album filled with respectful but original and intriguing versions of Great American Songbook classics, some to make the listener sing along, some to make them dance, some to get them just sitting quietly and enjoying the music.
TRACK LISTING
1. Look For The Silver Lining – Joel Culpepper
2. That Old Feeling – Eloise
3. I’m Old Fashioned – Sarah Kang
4. I Get Along Without You Very Well – Hohnen Ford
5. There Will Never Be Another You – Matilda Mann
6. Old Devil Moon – dodie
7. It’s Always You – Puma Blue
8. I’ve Never Been In Love Before – Poppy Daniels
9. Speak Low – Ife Ogunjobi
10. Time After Time – Benny Sings
11. Like Someone In Love – Stacey Ryan
12. My Funny Valentine – Matt Maltese
13. I Fall In Love Too Easily – mxmtoon
14. But Not For Me – grentperez
15. While My Lady Sleeps – Delaney Bailey
