The Music Plays On — Chet Baker
I get sad whenever I listen to Chet Baker. Perhaps it’s because I discovered him at the wrong end of his life when hearing of his death in 1988. Or perhaps it’s because the first image I ever saw of him was from the cover of the 1988 album, My Favorite Songs: The Last Great Concert. The cover photo captures the eternally futile search for happiness that’s in the eyes of every drug addict, and those eyes have haunted me for over thirty years. So has the recording.
Perhaps it was the documentary, Let’s Get Lost, also released in 1988. Directed by Bruce Weber, we see a highly intelligent, yet conniving Baker weave in and out of lucidity and in and out of people’s lives, revealing just enough vulnerability and charm to score his next hit. He’s heartbreaking, maddening, brilliant, and beautiful.
