[TPIN] Chet Baker entire recording My Funny Valentine

[William Graham]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <jontrimble at suddenlink.net>
To: <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 12:09 AM
Subject: [TPIN] Chet Baker entire recording My Funny Valentine


> Hey guys, check the whole 9 minute thing here...:)  I think a couple of 
> past comments might have been out of context.  Chet was one of the most 
> melodic players ever and very easy to follow.  He believed if you did not 
> KNOW the lyrics, you could never know the tune.  Sing a song thru the 
> trumpet is all he ever tried to do.  Listen to the whole tune...how he 
> starts, (vocally) then adds to the tune and embelishes thru-out.  Man, to 
> listen to the WHOLE thing!!  It grows with every chorus.  When he was 
> done,...that was all that needed to be said....I think anyway....:)
>
> Thoughts?  Here's the link......
>
> http://youtube.com/watch?v=dX-hMhMTjEg
>
>
> Jon Trimble
> http://myspace.com/jontrimble

I like it. I like his style, and there's no question that he makes beautiful 
sounds. I just don't think it's "My Funny Valentine"....(at least, most of 
it isn't) It's what we used to call, "A takeoff on ....." (back in my day) I 
might even go as far as saying I like it better than most, "Funny 
Valentines" that I have heard in the past, but then, it has never been one 
of my favorite melodies. There are a lot of tunes that I really like that 
would be ruined by playing them in that style. (In my opinion) And, there 
are a lot of rather boring, (repetitive tunes) that can really benefit from 
that style, too. There's no question that that guy can really play the 
trumpet well, by the way.....I would take his playing over people like 
Maynard anytime, and he never went over second ledger line "C"......(There's 
a message in there somewhere)