Chet Baker - Italian Movies

Should the primary artist credit on this go to Chet Baker? Probably not, and not for the reason you might suspect. First of all, to quantify Chet's contributions here, the total running time of these 3 CDs is 2 hours 10 minutes and the cuts featuring Baker come to 1 hour 3 minutes. So fans of Baker will definitely feel they got their money's worth, particularly since this is (unlike some of the other stuff he did in Italy) Baker in his prime - his performances, as well as the compositions, arrangements and backing players, are really top-notch. Which brings us to this set's true star - Piero Umiliani. As a composer, arranger and performer, Umiliani was a talent of the first order. His music is fresh, inventive and propulsive - and it swings. (Do be aware that the sound quality is a bit uneven - mostly just fine, but a little rough on several cuts.) Great soundtracks, great jazz, and the added bonus of Chet Baker. Get this.

"He was a sad and dramatic man, his only joy was to play. When I first met him he was extremely sweet and only spoke English but later, after spending time in jail at Volterra, he started to speak Italian." Piero Umiliani on Chet Baker.. Chet Baker/Film Noir fans will want to hear this. But be aware that he doesn't appear at length on every track on every soundtrack (ST). Information on these STs is unreliable and/or unknown. A number of these tracks were re-edited and reused at different times making definitive information impossible to catalog. But when Baker does play his tone is simply beautiful. Disc 1 begins with Baker's forlorn, lonely sounding horn on 1958's "I Soliti Ignoti" ("Big Deal On Madonna Street"), which is at times reminiscent of Miles Davis on "Lift To The scaffold". The band is made up of Baker and (for the most part) unknown Italian musicians. Peiro Umiliani (the real "star" here) arranged this (as all the others) and his feel for the storyline of each movie can easily be heard. This ST is one of the highlights of this set. The sound has been remastered on this and all the other STs here, and is up to previous Moochin' About standards on the very fine previous collections. "Audace Colpo Dei Soliti Ignoti" ("Fiasco In Milan"), (1959), is another good ST, with Baker, and a small group of Italian musicians (including Umiliani on piano) and shows how well Baker and Umiliani collaborated on this ST. This is another good example of Baker's sensitivity working with Umiliani on STs. The feel of the music takes several turns through varying emotions, and is a good example of Italian Film Noir efforts from this period. "Urlatori Alla Sbarra" (1960), includes Baker (with a vocal part), and small group of musicians, and Umiliani on piano as well as arranger and conductor. This is a more heavily orchestrated ST and shows Umiliani's skills both in the studio and as a composer of emotion-grabbing music. Disc 2 is taken up with "Intrigo A Los Angeles" (1964), which is a rarity (even more than some of the others), and features Baker and a large orchestra. This is where Baker fans may wonder who's the "star", it's Umiliani, not necessarily Baker. If you're not a "soundtrack person" wanting to hear more of Baker's horn, this may not be it. But it's another fine example of Umiliani's skills working on Film Noir scores. The music is atmospheric without pandering to the typical scores heard in some lesser films of this type. This too is another highlight of this collection. Disc 3 contains "Smog" (1962), with Baker and another large group of musicians. Again Umiliani is impressive, and Helen Merrill is heard on a nice vocal performance. This is yet another well composed, well arranged and played ST. This too is well worth hearing for Umiliani's work. It's by turns beautiful, subtle, and dramatic in the best sense of Film Noir. This is a personal favorite for the feeling/mood captured in the overall score. The packaging is a bit different (and not as nice in my opinion) than the previous sets from Moochin' About. The three discs snap inside a quad-fold cardboard package. The CD trays have reproductions of Movie cards and a b&w photo of Baker. There's no booklet which is a real disservice to fans. This slides into a fairly thin cardboard slipcase. The previous box sets all contained thick very informative, interesting booklets with great period graphics and photos. Why this set is different is somewhat of a mystery. My Baker/Umiliani set (which I received in Jan. '14) has a slipcase with a b&w photo of Baker (looking very hip) standing on an Italian street next to a poster for "Intrigo A Los Angeles". For a time the (European) cover had a different graphic and Umiliani's name was as prominent as Baker's. But Amazon (U.S.) now shows the original cover graphic. This set was held back from it's original release date, and some changes were made to the packaging--but possibly for only a short time in Europe. I assume everything else is as I described it. The previous ST collections from this label have become very well known to excited fsns in Europe--less so in the U.S. And that's too bad. I'm not a "soundtrack guy" except for 1950's Film Noir STs, and the previous sets all contain a great deal of fine jazz from the periods in question. Truth be known, the previous sets I feel are better as far as hearing some good/great, straight jazz--some of it played by a number of well known American musicians/groups. But as a fan of Film Noir STs I like this Baker/Umiliani set too. The previous box sets have all been reviewed by myself and/or others, or check out Amazon UK for more reviews if you're interested. All are well worth adding to your jazz and/or ST library. One last note--there's a new 6 CD set (similar to the first three sets) titled "Biopics" just released which contains both well known and some fine lesser/basically unknown in the U.S. STs. If this type of music is your thing (like me), shop around for the best price. I've seen the price jump $20 or so higher than originally offered, and then settle back to around $30-$35 or so from U.S. sellers. If you're familiar with the first few Moochin' About collections, you know how good they are--and this new set is similar.

Maybe the finest collection to show the range, beauty and soul of one of the great horn players. This is so well produced and packaged that it has tone considered perfection.

Enjoying the CDs very much...great early 60's Chet Baker...the Helen Merrill songs are great too. Highly recommend for Chet Baker fans.

Being a Chet Fan this is one I've been looking for sometime Thanks

Triple album no less. Chet @ his finest.

ECCELLENTE QUESTO CD.!!!!! STUPENDO CHET BAKER, MAESTRO DELLA TROMBA!!!

Bien

Excellent music, good sound quality, extremely good value for money. Wonderful Chet all the way in a variety of settings including some wonderful Chet vocals as well as some beautiful vocals by Helen Merrill who is another of my favourites and who complements Chet perfectly. Don't just sit there, buy it! And buy one for a friend while you're at it.

A good record with very good and uniussed songs. Great ! A BEST CD for the music for movie of Chet Baker - A must, but not cheap.