Let's Get Lost

This extraordinary documentary about jazz trumpeter Chet Baker is showing on the Sundance channel this month. This is a must-see for jazz fans, as sad as the story is. Baker is one of those fascinating contradictions, so mellow and soft in his work, especially his singing, and so hard and self-destructive in his life.

I met a vibe player like this, whose name I forget, who used to play for George Shearing. He was a neighbor the year I lived in Portland after dropping out of grad school (1968). His music was also romantic and lyrical ... and his life a loud blast of a mess. Both were very much into drugs.

One day this guy came over with a new drug, wanting to share. I declined and asked him what it was. "The guy said it was rocket fuel," he said. Q.E.D.