Chet Baker Quintet with Rene Thomas - Live in Bologna 1962 (2013)

Right after Chet Baker was released from jail for his ninth drug bust in January of 1962, he made his first recordings with the great René Thomas, issued on the album Chet Is Back! Baker and Thomas continued to play together over the following months, and fortunately one of their spirited live performances was privately taped and is presented here. René Thomas, who also suffered from drug addiction, would die relatively young on January 3, 1975, at the age of 47.
The Bologna performance presents Baker’s only existing versions of “Pennies from Heaven” and Tadd Dameron’s “Our Delight”. These extremely rare recordings only appeared before on a long out of print bootleg release. As a bonus, another complete Italian set by Baker that was recorded two years earlier. It appears here on CD for the first time ever, and showcase the trumpeter backed by the talented Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin and by renowned Italian pianist Romano Mussolini.