Baker, Chet. (1929 - 1988)
Signed Photograph
Rare early signed black and white bust portrait of the jazz legend, boldly signed and inscribed in black ink at the lower left "Best Wishes Paul / Chet Baker - 1964 - ." Creases to edges and corners, with small loss to the lower right blank corner, otherwise in fine condition. 8 x 10 inches (20.7 x 25.5 cm). Signed photographs of Chet Baker are of the utmost rarity.The celebrated American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and vocalist was known for the clarity and ease of his tone as a trumpeter, and the preternatural calm, quiet, and reflectiveness of his singing, the way in which he could, “somehow,” as the Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi puts it, “express the question mark of life in so few notes." Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You) and Jazz historian David Gelly has described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." But Baker began using heroin in the 1950s, resulting in an addiction that lasted the remainder of his life, landing him in and out of jail and partly driving his notoriety and fame.
In late 1959 and 1960, Baker toured Italy and the rest of Europe, a trip that once again fired-up his ego. But his new-found fame and movie stardom led to cockiness and, eventually, to an arrest for drug smuggling and forgery. The result was two years in an Italian prison (he had been sentenced to three). Upon his release in 1962, Baker began touring Europe again, recording extensively in Italy. After exhausting all commercial possibilities there and likely eager to resume his drug habit without having to wheedle pills in Europe and risk a longer prison stretch, Baker returned to the U.S. in 1964, winding up first in New York and it was there that he signed the present photograph, shortly after which he recorded The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964-65 for Colpix, his first U.S. studio date in five years. On the session, Baker played flugelhorn and sang on two tracks. A sumblime recording demonstrating Baker's lyricism and musical maturity on pure jazz songs, his solos, phrasing and intonation are all deeply profound, while his ideas are clear and mellow. How he managed to retain such beauty and clarity given his reckless self-abuse is nothing short of a miracle.
His career enjoyed a resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s, during which time he lived in Europe, recording and touring, for most of the ten years prior to his death. On May 13, 1988 Baker was found dead on the street below his second-story room of Hotel Prins Hendrik in Amsterdam, in what was almost certainly a suicide, but ruled an accidental if drug-induced fall.
From the collection of Paul McMahon, a critic, photographer and artist who worked for more than 13 years touring with Marlene Dietrich as the icon’s stage manager, announcer, dresser, secretary and escort, and later spent 25 years as an arts and entertainment reviewer and photographer with Gay Community News, Esplanade, Tommy’s Connection, The Mirror, Bay Windows and other publications. (22368)
Signed Document/Item Signed Photograph Jazz