Jazz trumpet legend Chet Baker's later years were notoriously wobbly and uneven, but this nice, understated set from the late '70s is surprisingly solid and pleasantly soulful. It opens with a couple of piercing, heartfelt vocal numbers, and moves on to more standard-issue instrumental workouts (which I found less interesting, but which are still pretty top-notch). If you're in search of more obscure, but still scintillating, late-model Chet Baker material, this disc is a pretty good catch.

The last decade of Chet's career found the seasoned jazzman embracing all aspects of group performance. On any given night you might find him singing and playing with solo piano, performing with a guitar/bass duo, or jamming with a quintet. Chet never had one location he would call home. His home resided in the location of his next gig. On this concert, Chet found his home in Germany working in a quartet consisting of piano, bass, and drums.

The concert was recorded live on December 9, 1978 for German radio. Chet is accompanied by Phil Markowitz (piano), Scott Lee (bass), and Jeff Brillinger (drums).

The disk opens with a shinning example of Chet's love for romanticism. The Touch of Your Lips provides Baker a launch pad for his steamy, smoky vocals. Putting down the trumpet, Chet sings the head of the piece and expresses his solo by scatting. His ideas are wonderful. Like the opener, the disk closes with My Funny Valentine, a piece Baker polished over the years and embraced as his own. Chet sings followed by a scatted solo, and again the ideas are excellent.

The remaining pieces contain excellent solos and solid group work. Each musician has their "antenna" out, listening closely to what each other are doing, responding and reacting to make the group sound as one singular entity.

Baker's catalog is brimming with live concerts, like this one. Some are great, others are brilliant, and others so-so. As you travel through his catalog, you get an idea of Chet's ups and downs, for that was the nature of the man. He lived a life riddled with personal problems and drug abuse. Music was the one constant love of his life and for this he was always passionate. One might say Chet's problems shone-through in painful beauty within his music. Whether or not that's true, the best essence of Chet was always laid-out for all to hear. Chet's performance here is an example of this.

Well preformed and recorded, Oh You Crazy Moon is sure to please even the fussiest of Chet fans.