VIA PRESS RELEASE | Slow Down Sounds, in collaboration with renowned photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber, announces the November 7 release of Chet Baker Performs and Sings Swimming by Moonlight, a 15-track collection of previously unreleased studio recordings by the legendary trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker. Available on deluxe 2LP, 2CD, and digital formats, the album is now available for pre-order.
Recorded during the making of Weber’s 1988 Oscar-nominated documentary Let’s Get Lost and shelved for nearly 40 years, Swimming by Moonlight was curated from Weber’s archives and boasts a blend of intimate studio sessions captured at Sage and Sound Studio in Hollywood, CA and Studio Davout in Paris, alongside an electrifying live performance from Cannes 1987, recorded during the premiere of Weber’s first feature documentary Broken Noses.
Today, the closing track of the collection, a haunting interpretation of Elvis Costello’s “Almost Blue,” is unveiled and underscores why Costello once said that Baker could “make every note sound like the last word you’d ever hear.” Early streaming release tracks “Remember,” “Arbor Way,” “I’ll Be Around,” “Milestones,” and “C’est Si Bon” have amassed incredible fan support.
Recorded on analogue tape and meticulously transferred and edited by bassist and producer John Leftwich—an original collaborator on Let’s Get Lost—Swimming by Moonlight is an audiophile listening experience that respects both the spirit of the sessions and the legacy of Baker’s singular sound. A new essay by Bruce Weber, Nan Bush, and John Leftwich reflects on these recordings from a 40-year perspective of their time working with Chet.
Officially licensed through Bruce Weber’s production company, Little Bear Inc., these intimate and long-rumored-to-exist recordings offer a rare and unfiltered portrait of Baker in the final chapter of his life.
“Something occurred to me when I listened to the final mixes,” offers Bruce Weber. “They sounded so good, and hearing Chet’s voice that way made me feel like I was sitting in a room with him again. With this album, he made an ending to Let’s Get Lost that I never could have imagined!”
“The conversations about these “lost” recordings began close to 30 years ago inside Atomic Records where one of the owners was lifelong friends with John,” says Tom Grover Biery of Slow Down Sounds. “He was always mentioning ‘Bruce Weber has these unreleased Chet Baker recordings’ … about a year ago that 30 year “rumor” started to become reality. Swimming by Moonlight is that rumor!”
“There were so many great songs—live and in the studio—we recorded for the film when I was playing in Chet’s band, adds John Leftwich. “Bruce, Nan, and I wanted to share them with Chet’s fans…and finally, now the time just seemed right.”
The deluxe audiophile vinyl version was mastered by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering, pressed at world-renowned Record Technology, Inc., on Neotech 180g vinyl, and packaged in a Stoughton Printing Company double gatefold, heavyweight Tip-On jacket for a timeless, top-quality presentation.
