It is dificult to review a Chet Baker album without thinking of the young brilliant trumpeter who created a legend with the Mulligan Quartet and who was selected to play with Charlie Parker in the late 40s. In fact, Dizzie Gillespie heard Baker play with Parker and warned Miles Davis that he had a rival on the west coast. That Chet Baker, the young Chet Baker, is decidedly not to be heard here. The effects of age, the night life, and years of heroin dependency had all had there effects on Baker. But the music here , less than a year before his death, is quite brilliant. You need to know that as good as this album is, it is really only one half of the concert from which it is extracted. I am fortunate to have both albums and I would highly recommend both to the Chet Baker fan, the cool jazz fan, the big band fan, or the general jazz fan. Baker's singing voice most shows the ravages of time. Only a Baker fan like myself would still refer to him as a "singer". But on trumpet he is still brilliant creating whole passages on lower register and injecting new life into tunes he has played for decades. For Chet Baker, life existed solely on the bandstand and within the music. In this very late album one gets the chance to hear the master one last time. Personally, I would recommend purchasing this one even ahead of the more "typical" young Chet Baker albums for it is here in his later work that one really can touch the man and - in turn - be touched by him...5 stars.

When Chet Baker died mysteriously in Amsterdam two weeks after this concert was recorded, the police initially ruled it a suicide. Although Chet's life took many up and down turns during his turbulent final years, there is no doubt after listening to this music that Chet was definitely "up" on the evening of this concert. So "up" in fact that the notion of suicide only a few weeks later becomes completely absurd.

This concert was intended as a celebration of Chet's career, aided by a top European rhythm section, big band, and full orchestra. The tunes were carefully chosen from those that Chet most cherished. Indeed, all had been recorded by Chet at some point during the previous 30 years.

Although there was only a minimum of preparation with Chet actually present, the orchestra was well-rehearsed and stocked with outstanding big band arrangements of these tunes. The effects of drug abuse and ill health made Chet's work in the 1980's inconsistent, but on this CD Chet plays some of the most beautifully crafted trumpet solos that he ever recorded, elegantly winding through the familiar changes.

Although I would not recommend it for those only interested Chet's 1950's-era crooning, it is an essential documentation of his trumpet improvising skill. As a tribute to his career, a retrospective of the tunes that will forever be associated with him, and probably the best example available of Chet performing live with a first-rate big band, this CD is a must-have.

Chet at his best! This last 2-CD Chet's recordning and "The Legacy - Vol.1" recorded half year ealier are in my view the best recordings he made ever. Pure jazz!