A primary exponent of the West Coast sound during the 1950s, Chet Baker matched this achievement with a secondary career as a singer, achieving considerable fame and success. However, it was as a jazz trumpeter that he first made his name, winning his first Downbeat poll in 1948 and then making the key recordings that launched the West Coast movement, with the Lighthouse Allstars and then Gerry Mulligan.

This 4 CD set includes tracks that illustrate the meteoric rise to fame that Baker experienced from the late '40s through to around 1952 when the Mulligan quartet was in full flight. This is one of the first Properbox sets to be issued in new slimline packaging - half the thickness of the original sets but with all the same information and produced to the same exceptional quality.

Track Listing:
CD 1: MY FUNNY VALENTINE
1. OUT OF NOWHERE: Green, Heyman (1952)
2. THE SQUIRREL: Dameron (1952)
3. THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE ME: Kern, Reynolds (1952)
4. MY OLD FLAME: Coslow, Johnston (1952)
5. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU: Warren, Gordon (1952)
6. LINE FOR LYONS: Mulligan (1952)
7. MY FUNNY VALENTINE: Rodgers, Hart (1952)
8. WALKIN’ SHOES: Mulligan (1952)
9. CHERRY: Redman (1953)
10. MOTEL: Mulligan (1953)
11. FESTIVE MINOR: Mulligan (1953)
12. TEA FOR TWO: Youmans, Caesar, Harbach (1953)
13. THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT: Kern, Fields (1953)
     
CD 2: IMAGINATION
1. ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?: Rodgers, Hart (1953)
2. THE LAMP IS LOW: Ravel, Parrish, De Rose, Shefter (1953)
3. THIS TIME THE DREAM’S ON ME: Mercer, Arlen (1953)
4. MAID IN MEXICO: Freeman (1953)
5. IMAGINATION: Burke, Van Heusen (1953)
6. RUSS JOB: Freeman (1953)
7. LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY: Gershwin, Kern (1953)
8. CARSON CITY STAGE: Smith (1953)
9. EASY TO LOVE: Porter (1953)
10. BATTER UP: Freeman (1953)
11. LOADED: Miller (1953)
12. I’LL REMEMBER APRIL: Raye, De Paul, Johnson (1953)
13. WINTER WONDERLAND: Smith, Bernard (1953)
14. PIROUETTE: Rogers (1953)
15. WITCH DOCTOR: Cooper (1953)
16. NO TIES: Freeman (1953)
17. ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE: Kern, Hammerstein (1953)
     
CD 3: BEA’S FLAT
1. BAND AID: Freeman (1953)
2. BEA’S FLAT: Freeman (1953)
3. MOON LOVE: Grossmith, Wodehouse (1953)
4. HAPPY LITTLE SUNBEAM: Freeman (1953)
5. I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY: Cahn, Styne (1953)
6. WINTER WONDERLAND: Bernard, Smith (1953)
7. THE THRILL IS GONE: Brown, Henderson (1953)
8. HEAD LINE: Montrose (1954)
9. BOCKANAL: Montrose (1954)
10. ERGO: Montrose (1954)
11. A DANDY LINE: Montrose (1954)
12. PRO DEFUNCTUS: Montrose (1954)
13. LITTLE OLD LADY: Carmichael (1954)
14. MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU: Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen (1954)
15. GOODBYE: Jenkins (1954)
16. I MARRIED AN ANGEL: Rodgers, Hart (1954)
17. LOVE WALKED IN: Gershwin, Gershwin (1954)
18. A LITTLE DUET (FOR ZOOT AND CHET): Montrose (1954)
19. YOU BETTER GO NOW: Reichner, Graham (1954)
20. WHY SHOULDN’T I ?: Porter (1954)
21. TRICKLEYDIDLIER: Rogers (1954)
22. I’M THROUGH WITH LOVE: Kahn, Malneck, Livingston (1954)
23. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS: Raye, De Paul (1954)
24. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MADE: Adams, Grever (1954)
25. LOVE: Blane, Martin (1954)
26. I LOVE YOU: Porter (1954)
     
CD 4: CHET SINGS
1. THE WIND: Freeman (1954)
2. BUT NOT FOR ME: Gershwin (1954)
3. TIME AFTER TIME: Cahn, Styne (1954)
4. I GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU VERY WELL: Carmichael (1954)
5. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU: Gordon, Warren (1954)
6. LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING: De Sylva, Kern (1954)
7. MY FUNNY VALENTINE: Rodgers, Hart (1954)
8. I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY: Cahn, Styne (1954)
9. LINE FOR LYONS: Mulligan (1954)
10. LOVERMAN: Ramirex, Davis, Sherman (1954)
11. MY FUNNY VALENTINE: Rodgers, Hart (1954)
12. MAID IN MEXICO: Freeman (1954)
13. STELLA BY STARLIGHT: Young, Washington (1954)
14. DOT’S GROOVY: Montrose (1954)
15. TOMMYHAWK: Mandel (1954)
16. THE HALF DOZENS: Holman (1954)
17. LITTLE MAN YOU’VE HAD A BUSY DAY: Sigler, Wayne, Hoffman (1954)
18. STELLA BY STARLIGHT: Young, Washington (1954)
19. I’M GLAD THERE’S YOU: Dorsey, Madeira (1954)