Chet Baker
The Jazz Festival celebrates the most romanticised icon in jazz, famed for his melancholy trumpet, his fragile tenor voice and the sexy, angelic, needy and forbidding aura.
His life was a wild ride from his emergence in the 1950s as an uncannily beautiful young trumpeter on the West Coast to become almost overnight the prince of "cool' jazz - until his violent drug related death in 1988.
On Stage
Mike Maran, Colin Steele and Robert Pettigrew present the acclaimed drama - "My Funny Valentine" on Fri 31, Sat 1 and Sun 2 August at the Bosco Tent in George Square.
In Conversation
Angelic looks; a trumpet sound of pure silver; a fragile endearing voice; and Chet Baker was the romantic idol of jazz in the post-war age. But his life was underpinned by personal weaknesses – for drugs and women – and for trust and respect.
The amazing Enrico Pieranunzi who played with Chet in the Italian and talks about Chet with Mike Maran and Colin Steele.
Filmhouse, Sunday 2 August, 4-5pm, £6. Tickets from: 0131 228 2688 / www.filmhousecinema.com
On Film
Let's Get Lost - Filmhouse, Sunday 2 August, 5.45pm, £6.50 (£4.90)
Bruce Weber's loving 1988 Chet Baker documentary delves into the legend of the beat-era jazz trumpeter/crooner but rather than stick to the facts, Weber goes for capturing his subject's feel, even if it's one of encroaching death and decay. It's this, along with its noir-ish visual style and loose, almost jazzy structure, that makes Let's Get Lost stand out from most musical biopics.
Tickets from: 0131 228 2688 / www.filmhousecinema.com
Bruce Weber / USA 1988 / 2h / Digital projection / 15 – Contains strong language and drug references. Documentary.
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The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival's irresistible programming collaborations are as challenging and creative, as ever - The Guardian
The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival is out to prove that, alongside all the other new-fangled genres, pure unadulterated jazz is alive and kicking - The List
As ever The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival features an excellent mix of singers, future stars, big bands and acts drawn from the thriving Scottish scene - The Telegraph
