GSR Records

This music, recorded in 1987 a few months before trumpeter Chet Baker's death, has been in and out of release since first hitting the streets. Its newest incarnation is as a music download. It is worth a listen if, for no other reason, than Baker possessed a tone perfectly sculpted for playing holiday classics. His martini-dry trumpet voice with softened edges easily slip in and out of these familiar melodies without losing any of the holiday cheer to straight improvisation. This is where Baker's relative lack of technique really pays off for him.

Silent Nights: A Jazz Christmas Album was originally released under Baker's and alto saxophonist Christoper Mason's names. By all research, Mason left precious few footprints in the jazz world save for this recording. Mason possesses a bluesy, full-throated, bar-walking tone that is more Louis Jordan than Johnny Hodges. He provides an earthiness and organicity to this collection that contrasts well with Baker's cool-school approach. The opening "Silent Night" offers a microcosm of this by adding pianist Mike Pellera's sensitive gospel and blues sensibility. Pellera's informed blues playing gives this old German Carol an American humidity with interesting results.

In addition to the standard carols one might expect there is a smattering of spirituals. Their inclusion here pushes the envelope on what is and is not part of the holiday music canon—which is a good thing, because it keeps the sub-genre fresh. Particularly fine here is "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen." Mason is at his reedy blusiest-booziest introducing the piece. Baker, who does not have a blues bone in his body, provides the gentle foil to the spiritual, giving the performance a slightly off-kilter character. The same effects are wrought from "Amazing Grace" (given an uptempo treatment) and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

Chet Baker plays consistently like...Chet Baker. The trumpeter could always be counted on to provide an acceptable, sometimes even inspiring, performance regardless of the circumstances. This is one of the attributes that makes Baker's trumpet playing so listenable. Baker is a difficult artistic figure to come to terms with because he only allows terms that are his own.