My Chet Baker story By Edmund Blackadder in Edmund Blackadder's Diary Sun Feb 23, 2014 at 10:27:30 PM EST Tags: jazz, chet baker, jazz appreciation, edx, mooc, cool, trumpet, heroin, france, caveau de la huchette (all tags)
	Edx is running a Jazz Appreciation MOOC, from the University of Texas at Austin. It's pretty fun. The instructor, Jeff Hellmer, sits at the piano during the videos and illustrates points with his playing. He's very comfortable at the instrument. He even gets into listening sessions with Louis Armstrong examples, and notes how Armstrong is able to swing straight quarter-notes, such was his "magic". (I think it's Armstrong's articulation, the way he pushes air through the instrument in a way that can be right on the beat, but has an "arc" to it, and energy across a wide range of frequencies, that makes it swing. Can I see the effect in a spectrogram?)

ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor: rusty This space intentionally left blank ...because it's waiting for your ad. So why are you still reading this? Come on, get going. Read the story, and then get an ad. Alright stop it. I'm not going to say anything else. Now you're just being silly. STOP LOOKING AT ME! I'm done! comments (24) active | buy ad ADVERTISEMENT There was a section on Chet Baker, and the "Cool" school. He talked a little how Baker died in Amsterdam, apparently having fallen out of a hotel window after doing heroin. I was reminded of the time I saw Baker in Paris in 1987 (a few months before his death). I'm pretty sure it was at Caveau de la Huchette. I got there late and was the last person let into the basement room. It was full and I stood on the stairs, next to the door. I remember Chet put his trumpet down for one song and played piano. He also left the stage at another point, while the rest of the band was playing. He made his way through the tables, and up the stairs past me and went out the door. A few minutes later he came back. He paused near me at the top of the stairs. He was smoking a cigarette. He stood on the step next to me, with the door on the other side, just smoking, eyes closed, head tilted upwards, for maybe a minute or two. It was like a perfect heroin moment.

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Jazz Appreciation effect in a spectrogra m Chet Baker Caveau de la Huchette Edmund Blackadder's Diary