The determined-looking and impeccably turned-out man on the cover of this SACD had something to prove. It certainly was not that he could play. That was apparent from the time Charlie Parker selected him from a crowd of trumpet players to be his front-line partner for a West Coast tour. The West Coast is where Chet Baker made his mark when he became a sensation in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. In 1958 when, to many, "West Coast Jazz" meant soft, polite music, Baker was eager to demonstrate that he could hold his own among the supposedly tougher musicians of the New York jazz scene. He more than held his own; he excelled in the company of some of New York’s top players - two members of the Miles Davis band, a hard-hitting tenor saxophonist, and one of Parker’s favorite pianists. There may have been an East Coast/West Coast dichotomy in the minds of critics, but there was none in the Riverside studio the day of this session. Baker and his New York friends had no territorial differences, only common ground.

Track Listing
1. Fair Weather
2. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
3. Hotel 49
4. Solar
5. Blue Thoughts
6. When Lights Are Low
7. Soft Winds