Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad stopped by Live & Local this week, following the release of their latest album “Let’s Get Lost: Songs Chet Sang.”
Visit the Jazz Squad’s page on Modern Harmonic’s website.
“Chet” is Chet Baker, the legendary jazz trumpeter/singer who shot to fame in the 1950s. Personal problems derailed his career, but not before he left a highly influential legacy. All 13 of the tracks on “Let’s Get Lost” are songs that Chet Baker recorded or popularized over the course of his life – most notably the title track, which was Baker’s signature song.
“Let’s Get Lost” is the Jazz Squad’s second straight tribute album – following 2021’s “To Hide A Heart That’s Blue,” which covered nine songs that Billie Holiday recorded with pianist Teddy Wilson in the 1930s.
But while that tribute was a conscious choice, “Let’s Get Lost” grew out of pure serendipity.
“We came in with maybe 16 songs, (and) we did an epic one-day session” with Modern Harmonic’s Jay Millar, Whalen says. “And at the end of it, he said, ‘these are basically all Chet Baker songs.’ It just happened.”
That one-day session was at Eno House in west Hillsborough. Whalen says the band recorded all 16 songs in six hours, eventually paring it down to 13 album tracks later.
Listen to the full album on Bandcamp.
The Jazz Squad has existed, in various forms, since the late 1990s. Today, the band has four members: Whalen, guitarist Austin Riopel, trombonist Danny Grewen, and Griffanzo (Robert Griffin) on piano.
If you want to catch the band live, you’ll have a few chances in the coming weeks. They’re playing this Thursday, September 26, at Yonder Southern Cocktails & Brew in Hillsborough – then they’ll be in Durham the following Thursday, October 3, playing a “speakeasy-themed event” at Club ERA.
And if you want a Jazz Squad-adjacent experience, head to the Carrboro Music Festival on Sunday, September 29, and catch Certain Seas (comprised of Whalen, Riopel and Grewen) outside Armadillo Grill at 3:30.
Follow Katharine Whalen on Instagram.
Katharine Whalen, Austin Riopel, and Danny Grewen stopped by Live & Local this week to discuss the album and promote their upcoming shows. They also played three songs from “Let’s Get Lost”: the title track plus “Alone Together” and “Embraceable You.” Listen:
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