New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Decca Records today announces
Chet Baker Re:Imagined, a collection of songs recorded by a varied selection of international talent to celebrate the legacy of one of the most unique, charismatic and influential figures in the history of jazz. Released to mark the 70th anniversary of seminal album
Chet Baker Sings, the 15-track compilation presents modern reworkings of the trumpeter and singer's repertoire and underscores the enduring influence of one of 20th century music's most creative artists.
Chet Baker Re:Imagined features an array of international artists spanning R&B, pop, soul and jazz. British artists dodie, Matt Maltese, Matilda Mann, Joel Culpepper, Ife Ogunjobi, Hohnen Ford, Eloise, Poppy Daniels and Puma Blue line up alongside Benny Sings from the Netherlands, Canada's Stacey Ryan, American artists Delaney Bailey and Mxmtoon, South Korean Sara Kang and Australian-Filipino grentperez. These musicians, singers, songwriters and beat-makers all sit within a fast-emerging scene and together they cast Baker's sublime melodies against a contemporary sound canvas marked by a spectrum of acoustic and electronic colours, artful, impassioned improvisation and richly layered production.
Baker, one of the icons of the "cool jazz" movement of the 1950s, stood out for the lustrous finesse of his horn playing and his distinctively soft, delicate voice, which was a revelation on
Chet Baker Sings. The ballad "My Funny Valentine" was one of Baker's signature songs and the British singer-songwriter Matt Maltese's interpretation captures its quiet, intense resonance against a backdrop of shimmering guitar and hazy keyboards. The deep sensitivity of Baker's music is a thread running through Re:Imagined and is exemplified by dodie's interpretation of "Old Devil Moon" which showcases the gilded understatement of her voice against a sharp, crisp Latin rhythm that is effectively complemented by a willowy clarinet break. mxmtoon's "I Fall In Love Too Easily" is an unabashedly romantic confession in which the singer's heartfelt delivery is well served by languorous guitar, tingling piano and potent trumpet.
dodie: "How lucky am I to get to live in the world of Chet's soft playful croons for this gorgeous collection? So fun to marry our styles and lean into a jazzier side.
Chet Baker was my number one artist in 2023 (apparently a top 5% fan) so I was just thrilled to be asked to pick a favourite - (although that part was difficult) and spend time with his gorgeous version of Old Devil Moon and dream up how we could team up."
Chet Baker Re:imagined follows the international success of the Blue Note Re:Imagined series which saw groundbreaking tracks from the visionary label given the sound of the twenty first century by the coterie of musicians who emerged from the vibrant London jazz scene. One of the leading acts of that scene - Mercury
Music Prize winners Ezra
Collective - appeared on Blue Note Re:imagined and are once again represented here in the form of the group's trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi whose version of "Speak Low", a song first recorded in 1953 by Baker, is infused with percussive Afrobeat rhythms and ethereal keyboard arrangements. A piece with an altogether more grandiose setting is the lushly orchestral "
There Will Never Be Another You" by Matilda Mann. Her angelic voice floats amid a swish sea of violins, violas and cellos that evokes Baker's classic album With Strings. If that piece presents a well-woven musical fabric then other artists strip things down to performances that leave the voice daringly exposed. Puma Blue's haunting "It's Always You" places his husky tone against a brooding, spiky electric guitar. Delaney Bailey's delicately folkish "While My Lady Sleeps" is nothing more than lyrics, acoustic guitar and birdsong. "But Not For me" by grentperez is a bossa with a blissful backbeat. Poppy Daniels performs "I've Never Been In Love Before", originally written by Frank Loesser for the 1950s musical Guys and Dolls. Sara Kang brings her personal blend of jazz, pop and R&B to a gospel-tinged take of "Old Fashioned" that highlights the understated beauty of her voice while Hohnen Ford channels Baker with a softly spun, almost under-the-breath delivery on "I Get Along Without You Very Well". Joel Culpepper goes in the other direction with "
Silver Lining", a sweetly soulful track that showcases his full throttle delivery.
The songs on
Chet Baker Re:imagined are steeped in the jazz star's spirit but also manage to take his legacy to new places, maintaining its reverence while exploring new creative possibilities. The trumpeter-singer became a musical icon because he stamped his personality on the era in which he lived, and the modern-day homages of the artists here are testament to the ongoing relevance of the man who immortalized the words "you make me smile with my heart."
Chet Baker Re:Imagined unveils a host of artists who do just that in their own special way.
Chet Baker Re:imagined is released on Decca Records on April 11th 2025.
CHET BAKER RE:IMAGINED TRACKLISTING:
Silver Lining - Joel Culpepper
That Old
Feeling - Eloise
I'm Old Fashioned -
Sarah Kang
I Get Along Without You - Hohnen Ford
There Will Never Be Another You - Matilda Mann
Old Devil Moon - dodie
It's Always You - Puma Blue
Speak Low - Ife Ogunjobi
I've Never Been In Love - Poppy Daniels
Time After Time - Benny Sings
Like Someone In Love - Stacy Ryan
My Funny
Valentine - Matt Maltese
I Fall In Love Too Easily - mxmtoon
But Not For Me - grentperez
While My Lady Sleeps - Delaney Bailey
