Chet Baker - Shine [2LP]

Shine captures Chet Baker live in Ferrara in 1987, an archival concert presented as a 180 gram double LP in a gatefold jacket.

By the late 1980s Baker was a weathered, haunted figure, but his playing had taken on a hushed, intimate beauty that many listeners treasure above his West Coast heyday. This performance at the Teatro Estense came less than a year before his death in 1988 and finds him in deeply expressive form, leading a sympathetic quartet with Nicola Stilo on flute and guitar, Michel Graillier on piano and Rocky Knauer on bass.

The set leans into ballads and standards, Baker moving between trumpet and that soft, unmistakable voice. "Almost Blue" is a highlight, its slow, smoky melancholy perfectly suited to his late style, while "I'm a Fool to Want You" aches with fragile tenderness. "But Not for Me" brings a lighter, gently swinging touch, and "Night Bird" opens the evening in a graceful, floating mood.

Stilo's flute adds an airy, lyrical counterpoint that makes this lineup feel distinct from many of Baker's other late-period bands.

It is a moving document of a great musician with nothing left to prove, and a beautiful addition to any collection built for late nights and low lights.