Chet Baker - No Problem - Vinyl LP

Vinyl LP

Baker spent a large part of his career in Europe, where he recorded a slew of below-par albums for more or less dodgy labels in return for off-the-books cash payments. Among the more rewarding liaisons was one with Denmark's Steeplechase. Baker's most successful albums for the label include The Touch Of Your Lips (1979), made with a drummer less trio which includes guitarist Doug Raney and bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and Diane (1985), a duo set with pianist Paul Bley.

And No Problem makes three. Pedersen is again present, in a quartet which also includes pianist Duke Jordan, who wrote all the tunes, and drummer Norman Fearrington. Jordan's melodic but bittersweet style is a perfect fit. Baker rarely used a mute—he feared that people would accuse him of mimicking Miles Davis—but he uses one to captivating effect on several tracks here. On "Kiss Of Spain" Baker does, indeed, sound rather like early Davis. Who cares?

Steeplechase was well distributed throughout Europe and also in the US, where the label did much to raise his profile, which had declined since the mid 1970s. Steeplechase boss and producer Nils Winther was a genuine admirer of Baker's work and took pains to record him in the good studios and with congenial sidemen—and the love shines through.

Chris May - allaboutjazz