Chet Baker - Two a Day

Recorded in France in the final days of 1978, Two a Day finds Chet Baker in a reflective late-career mood, now back on vinyl in a limited edition.

The session took place at the Château d'Hérouville, the celebrated residential studio outside Paris, with Baker backed by a sympathetic trio of Phil Markowitz on piano, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse on bass and Jeff Brillinger on drums. The album first appeared in 1980 and had been out of print on vinyl ever since, so this reissue marks a welcome return for one of the quieter gems of his European years.

With just five tracks across two sides, the band takes its time. The title track opens with a relaxed, conversational feel, and Blue Room gives Baker's trumpet space to unfurl its soft, burnished tone. Standards such as If I Should Lose You and This Is Always let him explore the lyrical side of his playing, with Markowitz offering gentle, harmonically rich support.

By this point Baker's sound had grown more fragile and intimate, and that vulnerability sits at the heart of these performances.

For collectors tracing his late-1970s output, this is a rewarding find, and its unhurried, small-hours atmosphere is ideally suited to vinyl. Dim the lights, pour something slow and let the quartet do the rest.