Chet Baker

Sorry for the too long break, and thank you for the comments and emails to encourage me to continue this. After return from Xmas vacation I was without internet for a while, the neighbour apparently had "picked my line" and it took France Telecom four weeks and several visits to get me a new line. By that time I had gotten used to not posting any more and then kind of lazy about this blog. But a lot is going on (while I am still working for the same restaurant) and the desire to share and write down events and thoughts is returning.

My last post was about music and so will be this "I'm back" post.

Music has always been an important part of my life, and sometimes accidental circumstances bring new inspiration. Like the unforgettable taxi ride with Leonard Cohen last year. This week life brought Chet Baker to me. And while I am writing this, I am watching the "Let's get lost" documentary. I found the circumstances amusing, amazing and worth sharing. Actually Chet Baker was first brought to me by my friend Sarah in Grenoble, who knew that I secretely had a little crush on my Saxphone teacher (my mother had met him once and then used to say, she would not have been able to concentrate on music in his presence). Sarah found an album with a photo of Chet Baker on which he looked exactly like my saxophone teacher at that time, and offered it to me as a birthday present. I am not sure I listened actually to the CD, what a shame, but I did like the cover...

Anyway, a couple of  years have passed since then, I have moved from Grenoble to Paris and therfore have a new Saxophone teacher (very very nice, but no crush-potential). Last week, before the vulcano cloud, I booked a hotel in Lucca in Tuscany for the upcoming weekend. I chose the hotel together with my friend Nina over the phone who I am going to meet there (still depending on the cloud). We figured the hotel Universo had a good price/quality ratio, ideal location and nice tripadvisor comments. I already loved the music of the hotel's website, and then found on the room description site, that room #15 was the one Chet Baker has stayed several times in, and thought this was a nice coincidence and was even more happy we had picked that hotel. I also thought I need to get out this CD from Sarah now and listen to Chet Baker. And I could end the story here.

A couple of famous photos exits of Chet Baker sitting in the window of the hotel Universo. This one's from the hotel website and I found another one on the back cover of Sarah's CDs. Nice, but still not the end of the story.

Today I told my (new) Saxophone teacher, that next Monday I will be in Tuscany and therfore we'd have to postpone my lesson, unless the European flights keep being cancelled. I mentioned that I'd stay in the same hotel as Chet Baker. The he smiled "I knew Chet Baker". Me : "No way !" Sax teacher : "Yes, we dined several times together". Me : "No way !" Sax teacher :"Actually he lived several years with my godmother in Paris, that is how I knew him" Me : "No way".

Ok I have to admit here that my contribution to the conversation was not very original, but I was just fascinated and surprised about this story and how normal it seemed to my Sax teacher. I asked him to tell me more about his godmother, a French actress, about her relationship to Chet Baker and researched later on web to find out more. So actually Chet Baker had left the US to follow his love Liliane to Paris. This was in 1955 and there are a couple of Paris concert recordings from that time. I also found a beautiful photo of the couple.

I proudly present Chet Baker and the godmother of my Saxophone teacher. I think this is cool.

For the moment this is the end of my little story. The big question is, will I actually get to Lucca on Saturday morning, the Paris airports are still closed...

This post however cannot end without the beautiful music of Chet Baker....

 

 

Comments

[Ulla]

Hi,
I am the first to find you, back here!!! Welcome back!!
Lovely music, ganz mein Geschmack.
Salut Ulla from MUC

[MIndy]

Ula--thank you so much for returning to post; I was very curious as to what was happening with you and was hoping you returned back from Christmas break. I too enjoy Chet Baker--I "discovered" him several years ago when there was a art/architecture/music exhibit in my town titled "The Birth of Cool" which encompased all the art forms of that 50s Jazz period. Chet now has several key spots on my i-pod.
thanks for sharing the wonderful story! amazing how threads weave through our lives.

[Who-lee-oh!]

Hola Ulla,

Great to see you back at girl!! Keep up the great spirit and the nourishing of our gastronomical desires. It's always an absolute pleasure to read those posts (and recipes....uhmmmmmm) Yummy, yummy!! ;-)

L.T.O. J!