Description
Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland features two sessions presenting trumpet/vocal icon Chet Baker recorded at the legendary VARA studio 2 in Hilversum, the Netherlands for the KRO radio program Nine O'Clock Jazz. Both are released here for the first time ever, and showcase Baker in a quartet format. Originally produced by Edwin Rutten, they have been prepared for release by "jazz detective" Zev Feldman and Frank Jochemsen. The limited-edition 2-LP set and its companion deluxe 2-CD edition include an elaborate booklet with photos by Veryl Oakland, Jean-Pierre Leloir, and Christian Rose, among others.
The liner notes consist of essays by Dutch journalist Jeroen de Valk, the aforementioned Feldman, Jochemsen, and Rutten; plus interviews with Baker bandmates Phil Markowtiz, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Eric Ineke, trumpeters Randy Brecker and Enrico Rava, and pianist Enrico Pieranunzi. All of this music was transferred from the original KRO radio tape reels and mastered for vinyl by legendary sound engineer Bernie Grundman.
