Jazz Band
Mr. McCarthy
04/07/2017
A Master Jazz Trumpeter In the world of music, especially Jazz, we have heard of many great musicians over the years, such as Nat King Cole and Louie Armstrong, but there is one that I think stands above all especially when it comes to trumpeter’s. One does not usually need to look to far down a list of greats before they find this world class trumpeter, Chet Baker. Chet has had many accomplishments in the music world, but also has had his shares of ups and downs, but remarkably he has been still one of the world’s greats. Music was his life and shaped the definition of who he was as a man. In this biography of Chet, we will look at how he rose to this spot light level of music, and …show more content…
was born in a small town in North Central Oklahoma called Yale on December 23, 1929. Chet was not a stranger to music, and it could be said that he might have been born into music, as “the son of musically inclined parents, he sang in church choirs and tried his hand at trombone before turning to trumpet at age 13.” (One) Chet was raised most of his childhood in Oklahoma, but he and his family moved west to California where they settled in San Francisco. Chet was still a teenager when he joined the Army, and while he was serving America, he really found out about being all you can be! Chet began, “playing in U.S. Army bands from 1946 to 1948 and from 1950 to 1952, Baker emerged into the West Coast jazz scene” …show more content…
It was not long after his professional debut that Chet had formed his own quartet, which began in 1953. Chet got to really enjoy this spot light for a few years after kicking off a good start to a legendary career, but he was not only a gifted musician, but gifted in his looks too. Do to the combination of his attributes, “the popular trumpeter made his film debut in the 1955 war film Hell's Horizon.” (ONE) Chet seemed not to hip on the big screen, and kept playing music. Chet’s music career kept moving up with hits, but like so many other artists he hit a bump in the road. In the late 1950’s though the 1970’s Chet’s career was a roller coaster, as he was battling a drug addiction. Chet moved around during his career, and played throughout the United States and in various counties in Europe. Chet’s music success in Europe would not last long, as his drug abuse issues ended, “with arrests in Italy, England and West Germany, the last of which resulted in his deportation to the United States in 1964.” (TWO) Chet would find life hard in the States when he got back, as he had to learn how to play his trumpet again with false teeth. Chet despite his drug addiction did enjoy a successful career that seemed rebirth again though the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Chet as talented as he was seemed to never be able to kick the addition to