Chet Baker - musician - jazz trumpet - vocalist
Pepito Pignatelli's Jazz Club - Music In - Blue Note - Rome

My last night in Rome was one of the most delightful ones of my life. My friends took me to dinner at a wonderful outdoor restaurant (in a square with beautiful trees) where the waiters don't write your order but relay it to the kitchen wearing sort of headphones. Everything was computerised, something I've not seen before but then perhaps I'm old fashioned!!! I would like to hear from the English journalist of the Sunday Times Michael Winner what he thinks about computerised restaurants??? The food was delicious. We ended the night in "LUCA SERVICES" house: he is a single, with beautiful sculptured Roman feet (like marble) in Birkenstock sandals, of course!!! He has a beautiful terrace smelling of jasmine: a very fascinated, cultural person; very refined with an eyes for detail even in his kitchen with garlic and onions hanging on the walls, dried herbs also hanging. You couldn't find better quality in Harrods! Even the lavender in a vase was superior - from Provence, he insisted. I was speechless, enchanted with this charming, gorgeous man and his candles floating in water. He has no hanging pictures but one empty but antique frame. OH GOD!!!

But the music, believe it or not, was the great CHET BAKER with the best after-dinner Italian drinks, and offered us a wonderful colourful sweet, pasta di mandorla (almond) from Sicily, "Marzapane di Sicilia".He said that a friend brought the CD for him from Amsterdam or it could be brought on the Internet. I remembered that Chet had died falling from a window, a drug addict. But it looks like he is having a revival. I met him in Rome in Pepito's Jazz Club, Music In and Blue Note. Chet had deep wrinkles on his face which he called "Laughter lines". Sixteen years after his death in Amsterdam his music was used in the recent film " The Talented Mr Ripley". Chet is so 'in' at the moment that a film is to be made about his life, starring Leonardo di Caprio as Chet.It will be good to see Leo with his own teeth as Chet had to wear dentures after drug-dealers had damaged his teeth. As a trumpeter, the damage to his teeth was a disaster, so he could not play for a few years. For all his problems, women adored him. He had a great magnetism showed through in the documentary at the end of his life, with his ex-wives and girlfriends all testifying to his egotism yet he was ver charismatic. The films about jazz - "Round Midnight" director Bertrand Tavernier, "Bird" director Clint Eastwood are both about self-destructive musicians. Gianni Amico 1965 film" Appunti per un film sul Jazz","Noi insistiamo", 1964. Blues film "The Rose", Better Midler as Janis Joplin! The night at Luca's house was 'Unforgettable' as Nat King Cole sang!!!

Some good jazz & blues links:
www.charlieparker.com
www.sonymusic.com/artists/janisjoplin
www.allaboutjazz.com
www.allmusic.com
www.jazzonline.com
www.members.tripod.com/ilduke
www.betonjazz.com
www.umbriajazz.com
www.musix.it/vintage/index/html
www.jazzfm.com
www.sonymusic.com/artist/MilesDavis
www.ijm.it
www.insinet.it.jazz/index.html
www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/1074/ella.html
www.bluenote.com
www.jazzonln.com/JAZZ/
www.pescarajazz.com/it
www.ejn.it/mus/rava.htm