CHET BAKER

Chet Baker was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist from the 1940s to the 1980s. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz leading him to be nicknamed the "prince of cool". Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s with albums such as Chet Baker Sings and It Could Happen to You. His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s. He was also the subject of the Academy Award-nominated 1988 documentary, Let's Get Lost. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 58.