It was only in July 2018 that Jazzwise reviewed the same label’s William Claxton Collection of Chet Baker albums, their spines combining to create one of Claxton’s iconic portraits of the musician complete with Cadillac and trumpet, and collectively spelling out ‘C-H-E-T-B-A-K-E-R’. In that set was The Complete Chet Baker Sings Sessions, which included four tracks not present on this new reissue.

Given that this has apparently been Baker’s best-selling record for 65 years, is there something special about this new, more slimline, release? That something is the accompanying hardbound book by Brian Morton, (also including a short memoir by Baker’s latterday bassist Riccardo Del Fra). Morton rather ducks and weaves around the question of the ‘making’ of the album.

As ever, his prose is elegantly written and he ponders on many a question of 20th and 21st century culture, taking us right back to Buddy Bolden. But was Baker’s ‘formal musical understanding… little more than rudimentary’? A glance at Allen Lawless’ history of the 298th Army Band in which Baker served would have underlined that you didn’t get to play in this service band without being able to sight-read to a high level, and you certainly didn’t get to re-enlist for a second spell. Gerry Mulligan recalled Baker reading the lead parts in his 1953 tentet, nudging Pete Candoli off the first trumpet chair. So, it’s a shame this aspect of Chet isn’t more fully explored, in place of several rather spurious comparisons to literary figures. Regarding ‘My Funny Valentine’, we read about Mitzi Green singing it in the original Broadway version of Babes in Arms (1937) but not about Baker’s previous (wordless) recording of the song with Mulligan, until we reach a biographical note tucked away at the end.

Morton’s big achievement is to attempt to rehabilitate Baker as a singer, drawing attention to June Christy’s influence and making some excellent points about his almost nonchalant use of emphasis in the lyrics and the quiet, unforced nature of his vocals. And no doubt this explains the record’s popularity, even though for me, Baker’s dodgy intonation still makes parts of it virtually unlistenable.