Chet Baker spent most of the early ’60s touring and recording extensively all across the European continent. This was partly due to the fact that he felt audiences took him more seriously there. Chet Is Back! is known as one of his finest records from this frantic period in his career. It was recorded in 1962 for RCA in Italy, though drug-related issues would have him deported to England shortly after its release.
This bop-flavored, laid-back session finds him taking on a set all but one standards, including Jack Strachey’s 1935 “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You).” No vocals are heard throughout Chet Is Back! but he is in top form on the trumpet, backed by a sextet of then up-and-coming, talented European musicians, including Belgian guitarist René Thomas, who opens the song.
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