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Title: Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker by James Gavin ISBN: 0-679-44287-1 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 14 May, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.93 (28 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Well written but not enough about the music:
Comment: Deep in a Dream is a thoroughly researched and well written biography of Chet Baker. Baker was a one of the leading stars of West Coast jazz in the 50's and early 60's, and as he played trumpet, was at times held up as a white version of Miles Davis. This comparison was unfortunate; although gifted with a natural talent, Baker never matured into a major figure like Davis, and the one time they played on the same bill, Davis's group blew them away. Baker was also blessed with model-like looks (although by the time he died, he looked like a walking corpse), and often sang in an androgynous, subdued voice that many people found very moving. (Matt Damon imitates this in the Ripley movie, where he sings a Baker standard, My Funny Valentine, in the style of Baker.) Unfotunately, as this book documents thoroughly, Baker was a heroin addict for most of his adult life, and cared much more about getting drugs than anything else. Not surprisingly, this led to a downward spiral in his career. By the early 1960s he was getting bad reviews in the US, and relocated to Europe, leaving his family behind. He toured widely there, and became something of a cult figure.
Baker's life does not make for pleasant reading. He used people whenever he could, paid no attention to his children (other than to steal his son's trumpet on a rare visit home), and recorded primarily to get money to fund his drug habits. Since he always needed money right away, he usually signed away royalties in return for an advance. This left him perpetually broke. Eventually he died under mysterious circumstances (probably suicide) in Holland.
James Gavin has talked to just about everybody that had contact with Baker, as well as researching reviews of his performances and records. Gavin is clearly taken with Baker's music but does not hesitate to repeat the sometimes vitriolic reviews Baker received. As depressing as Baker's life is, Gavin has not written a slash and burn biography designed to show his subject as an awful person. His judgments seem quite fair. However, I would have liked more discussion of Baker's music -- what made his playing and singing popular even today. There is some discussion of this but not enough to convey why we should care about Baker as an artist. This book makes an interesting contrast with two biographies of Baker's contemporary Bill Evans (My Foolish Heart and Everything Happens to Me), who may have been as big a drug user, but whose biographies mention his drug use in passing and concentrate almost entirely on the music. The Evans's biographies probably go too far in neglecting his messy life, but they still do a good job of showing why Evans is still an important figure today.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to imagine anyone writing a biography of Baker as good as this one, and this is certainly the book to read if you want to know more about Chet Baker. There is also a tie-in CD, with the tracks selected by the author, that is an excellent introduction to Baker's music.
Rating: 3
Summary: Burying the dead
Comment: According to Gavin's particular gathering of facts, Chet Baker never made an album that could not be dismissed. Baker's music will endure long after this bio is out of print. I have to give the author high marks for his research effort, but the mountain of detail he compiled for the book seems to have had only one purpose: to bury Baker one more time.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Long Night, Indeed
Comment: James Gavin does execellent work in detailing Chet Baker's rise to fame and fortune and ultimate fall. The story itself is amazing -- Baker, born with good looks and a natural musical ability, squanders it all away because of drugs.
Interesting to read about Baker's various relationships, both in an out of the industry, including his working relationship with Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz. Gavin also does a good job detailing how Baker insecurities made him lean more and more on drugs, and how drugs ultimately ruined his career and life.
As the story unfolds we see how Baker became more and more reliant on drugs, doing anything to get a fix. A very scary story, and one that is told well by Gavin.
Baker's musical legacy has been debated by the experts for many years. Charlie Parker, after hearing him on the West Coast, raved about his talents. Certainly Baker deserves a place in the history of jazz, and, if you're a fan of jazz, Gavin's biography of him is well worth your time.
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Title: As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir by Chet Baker ISBN: 0312200838 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title:Deep in a Dream: Ultimate Chet Baker Collection ASIN: B0000658PC Publisher: Blue Note Records Pub. Date: 07 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.98 |
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Title: Looking for Chet Baker by Bill Moody ISBN: 037326450X Publisher: Worldwide Mystery Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title:Baby Breeze ASIN: B00000HXFL Publisher: Polygram Records Pub. Date: 26 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $10.99 |
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Title:Chet (20 Bit Mastering) ASIN: B00004UENB Publisher: Riverside Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $14.99 |
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