Dutch
jazz
vocalist
Fay Claassen
's tribute in honor of the late
Chet Baker
's 75th birthday is an impressive achievement. Gifted with a beautiful voice, she captures the nuances of the material selected. This two-CD set is divided into two sections. The first disc covers songs from
the Gerry Mulligan Quartet
that featured
Baker
, with
Claassen
singing wordless vocals in place of
's trumpet. The substitution is not a gimmick and quite effective, as she has a very melodic voice that blends well with baritone saxophonist
Jan Menu
(who arranged and transcribed the original recordings for this date).
"Line for Lyons"
(misspelled
"Line for Lions"
on this release) is heard in two versions, a quartet and a shorter, lyrical duet with
Menu
. She proves very playful in
"Jeru"
and swings just fine with
sitting out
"Godchild,"
backed by bassist
Hein Van de Geyn
and drummer
John Engels
' brushes. There are some reservations about these reworkings of the old quartet repertoire. It is somewhat difficult to sit through the entire session in one hearing, as it is easy to eventually get tired of the wordless vocals; while
's technique is good, he has a bit of a harsher sound and isn't quite to
Mulligan
's level in executing his ideas. Disc two focuses mainly on music that
recorded as a vocalist and leader after leaving
effectively interpreting the lyrics to each piece. The band changes slightly, with pianist
Karel Boehlee
and trumpeter
Jan Wessels
taking the place of
's baritone sax, with
Van de Geyn
providing all of the arrangements. Although
"My Funny Valentine"
is considered overly recorded by singers,
's sensitive, emotional treatment is well worth hearing. The brisk rendition of
"Look for the Silver Lining"
is upbeat, with marvelous playing behind the vocalist. But it's hard to top her duet with
Boehlee
of
"Blame It on My Youth"
to close this fine tribute to the gifted but troubled
. ~ Ken Dryden