Chet Baker/Bill Evans: The Complete Recordings (2LP, 180g) [WAX TIME]

Why you'll love it

Wax Time collects the whole Baker and Evans partnership on two 180g LPs in a gatefold jacket, with "Almost Like Being in Love" added as a bonus. You get Chet's trumpet in cool, lyrical form with Evans comping behind him, months before the pianist's own trio took off.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Bonus track
• Limited edition

About the album

Two of the most romantic players in jazz shared a studio for a handful of dates in 1958 and 1959, and this set rounds them all up. Baker brought the trumpet and the cool; Evans, fresh from playing on Miles Davis's 1958 Miles, brought that soft, searching touch at the piano.

The sessions behind the albums Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe bring a starry cast: Herbie Mann on flute, Pepper Adams on baritone, Zoot Sims on alto, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Paul Chambers and Earl May on bass, and Philly Joe Jones, Connie Kay and Clifford Jarvis on drums. Standards like "Alone Together," "It Never Entered My Mind" and "'Tis Autumn" come slow and smoky, and the Lerner and Loewe sides swing through Broadway tunes like "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." It's all instrumental, so Chet lets the horn do the singing.

The two went their separate ways after these sides, which makes this a lovely little time capsule. Perfect for late nights, or for convincing guests you've been listening to jazz for years.

Also at Kops: more Chet Baker on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Listen

On Wax Time.