Personnel: Chet Baker (vocals, trumpet); Paul Bley (piano).
An unusual collaboration for both musicians, DIANE is a set of slow, langorous ballads and one jazz original (Sonny Rollins's "Pent-Up House"). Baker lends his wispy vocals to only "You Go To My Head," but his trumpet sings satisfyingly throughout. Despite his well-known drug dependence, Baker continued to make good-to-great albums till the end of his life, and DIANE is no exception. But the revelation here is Paul Bley who studiously avoided recording jazz standards for nearly his whole career. Here his stately tone and rich chordal work make an excellent foil for Baker's nocturnal perambulations. A late-stage triumph for the two veterans.
