Chet Baker Project

Music and jazz lovers generally have a difficult time deciding whether Chet Baker was a trumpeter who sang, or a singer who played the trumpet. What is certain is that the man, despite a troubled existence defined by heavy heroin addiction, sang and played – or played and sang – himself into history with his velvety voice and ditto trumpet playing, and is considered one of the most important figures in West Coast cool jazz of the 1950s and ’60s.

Chet Baker Project brings together four musicians with a common love for his music. Singer Nel Hadermann grew up with Chet's sound, and together with pianist Ewout Pierreux (a.o. Tutu Puoane), bassist Jef Manderveld and drummer Simon Van Brandt (both with Unfinished Business, among others), she plays a wide selection of Chet Baker hits. Hadermann has a beautiful voice and a natural talent for improvised melody, and with her spontaneous scat improvisations she effortlessly fills the role of Chet's trumpet. Together with a dynamic and ever-swinging piano trio, she performs accessible, stylish and disarming versions of his repertoire.