In the Dark

I suppose I should make some concession to Valentine’s Day, so here’s the classic 1954 Chet Baker version of the Rodgers & Hart tune My Funny Valentine. This was a big hit during the period when jazz switched from the frenetic pace and jagged angularity of bebop to the smooth cocktail bar sounds of the Cool School; its popularity owed as much to Baker’s youthful good looks and attractive singing voice as to the trumpet solo on this recording.

But that was 1954. A lifelong addiction to heroin exacted a terrible toll on Chet Baker. Here’s a harrowing and heart-rending reprise of My Funny Valentine recorded, just a year before his death, at a concert in Tokyo in 1987.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

This entry was posted on February 14, 2013 at 9:53 am and is filed under Jazz with tags Chet Baker, My Funny Valentine, St Valentine's Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.