Chet Baker

Chet Baker (1929-1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer, born in Yale, Oklahoma. He came to prominence in the West Coast cool jazz scene of the early 1950s, first in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, where "My Funny Valentine" became his signature tune. His soft trumpet tone and quiet singing, heard on Chet Baker Sings (1954), became closely identified with the cool jazz sound. Chet Baker led his own quartets with pianist Russ Freeman in the mid-1950s and recorded for Pacific Jazz, Riverside, Prestige, CTI, Enja and SteepleChase, among others.