Chet Baker Sings and Plays with Bud Shank, Russ Freeman and Strings (UHQCD)

Chet Baker’s complementary talents as both a trumpeter and singer are well known today. Chet’s trumpet and voice seem to be extensions of the same musical personality. Baker achieved overwhelming success in 1954 with his first vocal album, “Chet Baker Sings”. The following year, his label Pacific Jazz brought Baker back to the studio for the follow-up, “Chet Baker Sings And Plays,” this time showcasing his trumpet skills alongside his vocal talent. On this album, Baker was able to count on the collaboration of his renowned quartet with pianist Russ Freeman, as well as a large band that included Bud Shank on flute, string arranger Frank Campo, Johnny Mandel, and Marty Paich. The ten tracks on the album include some of Baker’s greatest and most enduring hits, including his unforgettable interpretation of “Let’s Get Lost,” which was also the title of a celebrated documentary about Chet Baker in 1988.

As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for Blue Note US’s analog reissues such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited Japan only UHQCD with OBI stripe. The original recording sessions for “Chet Baker Sings And Plays” took place on February 28 and March 7, 1955 at Capitol Studio in Hollywood.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

UHQCD (Mono-Mix)

1. Let’s Get Lost

2. This Is Always

3. Long Ago And Far Away

4. Someone To Watch Over Me

5. Just Friends 6. I Wish I Knew

7. Daybreak

8. You Don’t Know What Love Is

9. Grey December

10. I Remember You