The Artist: Jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker.
The Doc: Photographer Bruce Weber put together this languid film about the troubled jazz man, with the elegiac trumpet strains creating the perfect accompaniment to this film noir tale. Baker's matinee idol looks hid a dark soul that was troubled by heroin addiction, leading to low points including prison sentences, and selling his instruments to fund his habit.
Weber contrasts footage of the young Baker in his prime, playing alongside jazz legends, with the gaunt, troubled man of the 80s, and includes illuminating contributions from those who knew him, and some engaging interviews conducted with Baker before his death in 1988.
Musical Highlight: The song from which the film takes its title showcases Baker's skill on the trumpet, as well as his smooth vocals.
Encore? You'll no doubt be itching to put on a Baker CD once you've sat through the movie.
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Comments
Hadouken76
Jul 1st 2010, 15:15
Flight 666, lets face it you wont see Bono pilotting the tour plane any time soon and I recently saw a 4 hour doc on Tom Petty, i didnt like Tom Petty but I do now!
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stomachpop
Jul 4th 2010, 15:33
The Flaming Lips doc 'The Fearless Freaks' is amazing! Put together with years worth of footage featuring some truly strange and interesting characters....or there is always the ace bio 'Hated' about GG Allen, frontman for the The Murder Jumkies, not only do we see him brawl with fans and roll around in his own faeces but the footage of his final concert where he runs naked from the cops and emerges from a window with a needle hanging from his arm is surely the spirit of rock and roll captured on film!
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