LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Having been through the most daunting and destructive problems and inactive in music, Chet Baker got himself together personally and musically in 1973 and went to New York for a comeback. The comeback had its ups and downs, but there were periods when the trumpeter's work equaled or surpassed the playing of his poll-winning years in the 1950s. Once Upon a Summertime is from one of those periods. With the powerful young tenor saxophonist Gregory Herbert, pianist Harold Danko, and the perfectly-matched bass/drums team of Ron Carter and Mel Lewis, Baker regained his old lyricism and added a sinewy bebop strength that came as a welcome surprise to many listeners. Tidal Breeze, Shifting Down, ESP, The Song Is You, Once Upon a Summertime (La Valse Des Lilas)with Gregory Herbert, Harold Danko, Ron Carter, Mel Lewis