Bird and Chet at the Trade Winds features legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker performing live at the Trade Winds nightclub in Inglewood, California in 1952. Joining Parker on this date was the then relatively unknown West Coast trumpeter Chet Baker. As with his idol, trumpeter Miles Davis, Baker had a softer, more melodic approach to playing bebop and the pairing struck some at the time as odd. However, Baker's appearances with Parker during this period helped launch his career and prefigured his later work with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and as an iconic solo artist. Here, Baker often plays under and off of Parker much in the same way Davis did a few years earlier. While these are lo-fi recordings, they are some of the only known recordings of Baker performing with Parker, and that alone makes them an invaluable document for jazz fans.
