Paul Heller invites Fay Claassen

Remembering Chet Baker

Fay Claassen's double CD "Two Portraits of Chet Baker" was released 20 years ago, a stylish tribute to the legendary trumpeter, who died in 1988 after falling out of a hotel window in Amsterdam. Intended as a tribute to Baker's 75th birthday, the album was much more than that: it was the masterpiece of a singer whose voice was a virtuoso substitute for Baker's trumpet. Even a standard like "Poinciana", which Baker played with Gerry Mulligan in 1953, shone as if it were being played for the first time thanks to Fay Claassen. Now the singer is once again reminiscing about Chet Baker, alongside Paul Heller she supports the Dutch dream team Ruud Breuls, Karel Boehlee, Frans van der Hoeven and Joost van Schaik. Whatever her view of Chet Baker will be today: Once again, Fay Claassen's music will touch the soul.

// Fay Claassen (vocals), Ruud Breuls (trumpet), Paul Heller (tenor saxophone), Karel Boehlee (piano), Frans van der Hoeven (bass), Joost van Schaik (drums)