A Pair of (Sort of) Singing Trumpeters

This month saw the celebration of Record Store Day on April 20. As most readers might guess, I spent the evening at a recital, rather than with my album collection. Nevertheless, a generous number of “historically significant” jazz albums were reissued for the occasion. Now that they have made it to the head of my queue, I feel it appropriate to deal with them on a one-by-one basis.

Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon on the cover of the album being discussed

I shall begin with the Jazz Detective album entitled In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album. The source of that album was a collection of studio performances recorded in 1972, which was shared by two West Coast trumpet icons, Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon. Both of them also provided vocals, and I suppose the polite way of putting it is that each one had his own unique approach to vocalizing. For the record, as they say, I have had enough exposure to get used to Baker’s voice; but I am not as sympathetic to Sheldon’s efforts!

The album has ten tracks; and rhythm is provided by the quartet of pianist David Frishberg, Joe Mondragon on bass, drummer Nick Ceroli, and Jack Marshall on guitar. For the most part, the vocals prevail over the instrumental work; but, as many readers know by now, I am always a sucker for following the bass line, even when the bass player does not venture into any extended improvisations. I was also drawn to Frishberg’s work, both in the background and on the occasions in which he took the foreground. Unless I am mistaken, this was my first contact with Sheldon; and, while I appreciated some of his stylistic turns, it is unlikely that I shall be actively pursuing any of his other recordings.

Baker’s history, on the other hand, was a variable one (to be polite about it). In reviewing my archives, I discovered that my collection includes two of his Pacific Jazz releases, the quartet album with Russ Freeman, recorded in Los Angeles in 1953, followed by Picture of Heath, six tracks recorded at a single session on October 31, 1956, also in Los Angeles. There are then two additions to my collection from recordings made in Europe, Early Chet, a “lost tapes” anthology of sessions in Germany between 1955 and 1959, and Blue Room, compiled from a series of sessions at the Vara Studio in Holland in 1979.

I must confess to one bit of frustration. While I had no trouble distinguishing the vocalizations of the two leaders, I was never quite sure who was taking which of the trumpet solos! It would not surprise me if those details were never documented (or if any documentation made at the time was subsequently lost). As a result, while the tracks on this album are, for the most part, engaging, I am more likely to return to the other Baker albums in my collection, if only for my personal obsession with specifics!