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Chet Baker

File:Chet_Baker_(1955_portrait).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Chet Baker

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Also known as Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr., Baker Jr., Chesney Henry Baker, Jr., Chep, Pop

American jazz trumpeter and vocalist (1929-1988)

OverviewAI-generated

Chet Baker (1929–1988) was an American musician whose professional career spanned from 1949 to 1988. He is associated with jazz, cool jazz, trumpet, vocal jazz, and blues. His pseudonym was "Chet."

Baker’s recorded works include *Bloodline Run*, *Chet Baker Play Along*, *Playboys*, *The Pacific Jazz collection*, and *As though I had wings : the lost memoir*. He has 14 works listed in Open Library and 5 works in Crossref. His music has been streamed 53,437,487 times by 1,880,371 listeners on Last.fm.

Synthesized by Vinony from 18 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Henry
Family name
Baker
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Yale
Place of death
Amsterdam
Occupation
jazz musician
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Student of
Jimmy Rowles
Genre
jazz
Instrument
voice
Record label
Enja Records
Image
ChetBaker-StudioHarcourt-1955.png
Show 13 more facts
Commons category
Chet Baker
topic's main category
Category:Chet Baker
date of birth
1929-12-23
date of death
1988-05-13
manner of death
accidental death
cause of death
falling
nickname
Pop
start of work period
1949-00-00
pseudonym
Chet
social media followers
84500
end of work period
1988-00-00
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

Chesney Henry Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".

Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: Chet Baker Sings (1954) and It Could Happen to You (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chet Baker” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (4)