Review by Matt Collar
The 2023 two-disc collection Blue Room: The 1979 Vara Studio Sessions in Holland spotlights the unexpected magic trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker could conjure during the last decade of his life. Having achieved stardom on the West Coast in the '50s, Baker spent much of his career, from the '60s until his death in 1989, living and performing in Europe where his drug addiction and itinerant lifestyle were never as much of a barrier to getting work. Recorded in the Netherlands on two separate dates in 1979, the Blue Room sessions find Baker digging into some of his favorite standards, as well as a few unexpected song choices. The first session features one of his touring lineups of the period with pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, and drummer Charles Rice. This is the more cohesive of the sessions, as Baker offers warm takes of some of favorite standards, including "Oh, You Crazy Moon" and "The Best Thing for You," both of which he had just recorded on his classic 1977 comeback album You Can't Go Home Again. There are also inspired renditions of Wayne Shorter's "Beautiful Black Eyes" and the Miles Davis blues number "Down," the latter of which was another staple of his final years. The second session, recorded several months later, was a more ad hoc affair with producer Edwin Rutten putting Baker in with a trio of European players, including pianist Frans Elsen, bassist Victor Kaihatu, and drummer Eric Ineke. Purportedly, Baker failed to bring lead sheets for the band and they had to figure out each song on the fly. While that led to some temerous moments, including a shaky version of "Old Devil Moon," other cuts surprised, as with sly blues number "Luscious Lou," a song composed by Baker's '50s bandmate, saxophonist Phil Urso. Toward the end of the session, they find their groove, settling into a bittersweet rendition of "My Ideal," a song Baker first recorded in the '50s whose lovelorn lyrics took on ever more nuanced meaning the further he got from that early golden boy period of his career. Even so, his performance, as with pretty much all of Blue Room, is entrancing.