Funny Valentine: The Story of Chet Baker
Matthew Ruddick , 828 pages, softback
By CHRIS MAY, Published: July 30, 2012
Grippingly written and meticulously researched, Matthew Ruddick's 828-page opus is the definitive biography of trumpeter and singer Chet Baker. More than that, it is a vivid account of the junkie subculture that ran through mid-to-late 20th century jazz, as seen through the incident-packed life of one of its most spectacular participants. The book combines some of the best qualities of saxophonist Art Pepper's unflinching autobiography,Straight Life (Schirmer Books, 1979), and Ian Carr's scholarly musical biography Miles Davis (Quartet, 1982). It is a compelling and authoritative page-turner in the highest rank of jazz biographies.
Baker, born in 1929, found fame early, in 1952, as a member of baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's piano-less quartet. The affecting romanticism of Baker's trumpet playing was matched by his movie star good looks, and when, in 1954, his record company discovered he was also a proficient ballad singer, his future looked assured. But during the second half of the decade, Baker became a slave to heroin, effectively sabotaging his progress; other than during periods in jail, first in the US, later in Europe, he continued to use heroin and its various substitutes until his death in 1988, when he fell out of an Amsterdam hotel window. From 1959, Baker spent much of his time living in or making extended tours of Europe, and his mid-1970s US "comeback" was shortlived. But he could still, intermittently, turn the magic on: the 1987 album Chet Baker in Tokyo(Evidence)—which was recorded on methadone rather than heroin to avoid falling foul of Japan's strict drug laws—is amongst the best he ever recorded.
Read more: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=42587#.UZCj25XhEhQ
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