Deep in a Dream (book).
It’s an ugly picture of Chet Baker
Money for drugs while his sidemen were continously stiffed. Liar, cheat, thief, all for the next injection. He had so many veins closed down that he was injecting drugs into his scrotum at one point. He was a howling raging animal. A sad tale for sure.
I remember reading a quote from Herb Ellis a jazz guitarist of the ‘50s who once said while listening to Chet Baker at a concert “if there’s a melody in there somewhere Chet is going to find it.”
He played a good horn, a lyrical horn, I really did not like his singing especially later on when he had lost his teeth and replaced them with dentures. His teeth fell out because of his drug use... his tone on the horn suffered as well.
What a terrible story Chet Baker’s legacy turned out to be.
Trying to recall where I first heard CB. Think it was at the Blackhawk in San Francisco. I remember his sound and style was so unique that my response was ambivalent. And remained so.