Chet Baker – Let’s Get Lost: The Best Of Chet Baker Sings – CD

Once Chet Baker arrived in California from his native Oklahoma, his career exploded. After landing gigs with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, Baker soon found himself a solo star and bandleader. Not long after that, he also found himself whispering love songs into a microphone. Baker was not gifted with the most robust voice of the day. Indeed, listening to pure singers like Nat King Cole or Johnny Hartman can expose Baker’s weaknesses, but what Baker did he did well. By choosing wistful, so-young, so-in-love tunes, Baker was able to pour his heart into the material, sketching soft, romantic moods and painting himself as the broken-hearted innocent. The effect can be devastating, as Baker’s voice clings to the melody, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Many of his best tunes–“I Fall in Love Too Easily”, “But Not for Me”, “Let’s Get Lost”–are collected here, and, as such, there is no better place to begin an appreciation of Baker’s unique singing. —S. Duda

1. The Thrill is Gone
2. But Not For Me
3. Time After Time
4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
5. There Will Never Be Another You
6. Look For the Silver Lining
7. My Funny Valentine
8. I Fall In Love Too Easily
9. Daybreak
10. Just Friends
11. I Remember You
12. Let’s Get Lost
13. Long Ago (and Far Away)
14. You Don’t Know What Love is
15. That Old Feeling
16. It’s Always You
17. I’ve Never Been In Love Before
18. My Buddy
19. Like Someone In Love
20. My Ideal