Chet Baker Quartet Featuring Dick Twardzik

Recorded in Paris in 1955, this Barclay reissue features trumpeter Chet Baker in quartet with Boston-area piano prodigy Dick Twardzik, bassist Jimmy Bond, and drummer Peter Littman. In the United States, these tracks (all composed by Bob Zieff) were paired with several other jazz standards (not included here) on Baker's 1955 album, Chet Baker in Europe. This release, however, features the original track list (and album cover art) focusing solely on the Zieff compositions. A classically trained composer with a bent toward an angular, third-stream style, Zieff had been one of Twardzik's teachers, and it was Twardzik who introduced Baker to Zieff's compositions. A supremely gifted musician, Twardzik had made his professional debut at the age of 14, and was only 24 years old when he joined Baker on tour. Also classically trained, Twardzik had a sophisticated approach to jazz that combined the technical skill of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, with an ear toward the complex harmonies of modernist composers like Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky. Although generally regarded at the time as a lyrical, emotionally direct musician who purportedly couldn't read music and instead played by "ear," Baker immediately connected with Zieff's music. It's fascinating to hear him bring the same raw emotion and romantic yearning that he brought to a standard like "My Funny Valentine, " to Zieff's spare, often arch compositions. Cuts like "Sad Walk," "Just Duo," and "Brash," are sweetly lyrical and swinging, yet shaded with harmonies that are noir-ish in tone. Elsewhere, "Piece Caprice," has a lilting, waltz-like quality that brings to mind the similarly inclined work of the Dave Brubeck Quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond. Sadly, Twardzik died of a heroin overdose just over a week after this recording session; a tragedy that cut short a promising career and marked the beginning of Baker's own decline into addiction. Due to licensing restrictions, the album fell out of print in the U.S. and Zieff never fully achieved wider recognition. Nonetheless, these are some of the most distinctive and unusual of Baker's early career recordings. ~ Matt Collar