Two Jazz Horn Duos

February 13, 2021 6:12 PM

Rather than playing identical melody lines in unison like Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Baker and Mulligan complemented each other with counterpoint and anticipating what the other would play next. "My Funny Valentine", with a solo by Baker, became a hit and would be associated with Baker for the rest of his career.

A little tidbit I noticed from Chet Baker's wikipedia page. I thought the contrast was delightful and the songs a great prelude to valentines day.

posted by rebent (12 comments total)

Chet Baker was quite the character. It's been said he was great at music, but not so good at life. There is a youtube video of him performing for a reception at a Cannes Film Festival reception, where he scolds the listeners for acting like he's just background music, "This is art! Stop talking and listen!"

It was art, and they should have stopped talking.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:53 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

Gerry Mulligan is really the only baritone sax player I enjoy listening to, and Chet Baker is one of the few male singers I enjoy listening to (and he's a great trumpet player, too). I don't think that's Gerry Mulligan in that "My Funny Valentine" video. It's probably Lars Gullin.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:03 PM on February 13, 2021 [3 favorites]

I play that song on piano. Something about the song make's it easy for an average player like me to sound good by playing less, not more.
posted by hypnogogue at 7:21 PM on February 13, 2021

Chet is punk as fuck. His intonation sucks, but I can dig it as long as the day is long.

(really, Chet albums last on long car rides more than anything, and that's something)
posted by ovvl at 7:35 PM on February 13, 2021

Also worth a listen for the same sort of melody-sharing: Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond on Two of a Mind.
posted by supercres at 8:11 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

...performing for a reception...It was art, and they should have stopped talking.

Maybe Baker shouldn't have been hired for an event whose purpose was for people to mingle and talk, then.
posted by thelonius at 2:55 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Chet and Mulligan are great, almost incredible actually. Regarding the comment Chet Baker made to members of his audience, it is well documented how annoyed some musiciens might get. One of the best reaction I've heard is what Charlie Hunter said to a very talkative person. In the midst of a performance of Indiana, he told that person "could you please speak about something more interesting, cause I can hear everything you say" and then carried on with the performance without missing a beat.
posted by nicolin at 9:13 AM on February 14, 2021

Well, good for him, that went well, but musicians have made fools of themselves with this kind of thing also. Like Kai Eckhardt went off on a bunch of dotcom people who were at a different event than the one he was playing for; perhaps understandably, they had no interest in remaining in silent awe of the Art happening next door to them, and had carried on with their event. I don't understand the physical logistics of what happened there, but Eckhardt should have been ranting at the promoter, or at no one.
posted by thelonius at 9:35 AM on February 14, 2021

A must see for anyone interested in Chet Baker is "Let's Get Lost".
posted by shnarg at 9:45 AM on February 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

A friend of mine played piano for Baker on a tour of Europe. So, all of you are now three degrees of separation from Chet Baker! Baker told him that he should be dead, and that he looked at every day as bonus time.
posted by thelonius at 10:44 AM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]

Let's Get Lost is indeed a fascinating documentary, although not entirely unproblematic; Bruce Weber has been accused of sexual assault by some of his former models. But the contrast between the young Baker, who almost looks like a cartoon of a handsome man, and the wreck that he became because of his heroin habit, is compelling.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:27 PM on February 14, 2021

Gerry Mulligan recorded a few of these duo-style collaborations with other horn players. I like this one with Stan Getz.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 2:53 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]