Week 18 · 2026
Álbum
This week’s pick
Chet Baker · 1954
Chet Baker Sings
Pacific Jazz Records · Vocal Jazz
"I heard it for the first time in a bar in Montevideo at 2 in the morning. My Funny Valentine was playing and nobody was talking. That doesn't happen with just any record."
Chet Baker was 24 years old when he recorded this album. Up to that point, he was known for his trumpet — west coast jazz, cold, lyrical, almost ethereal. But in 1954, he entered the studio with the idea of singing. Without vocal training, without the power of a Sinatra. Only his fine, almost spoken voice, without vibrato.
Why it matters
The producer Dick Bock was terrified. The record label told him the album wouldn't sell. He released it anyway. And it sold. Sold so much that it changed the idea of what vocal jazz could sound like: you didn't have to be a classic crooner to move people.
"My Funny Valentine" in his version is one of the few covers that people confuse with the original. The voice whispers. The piano of Russ Freeman responds. The bass of Carson Smith walks. Three perfect minutes.
If you've never heard it, put on your headphones and start with the fourth track. You'll understand.
On DoReSol
