James Gavin’s Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker

Featuring spoken word by author James Gavin and music by Spider Saloff (vocals), Art Davis (trumpet), and Dennis Luxion (piano)

From his emergence in the 1950s–when an uncannily beautiful young man suddenly became the prince of “cool” jazz–until his death in 1988, Chet Baker lived the life of an American myth. Biographer James Gavin, a contributing writer to the New York Times since 1992, explored the man and myth in his critically acclaimed 2002 book on Baker and now he brings that emotional story to the ECC Arts Center stage through spoken word (performed by Gavin), film and a jazz score featuring Chicago’s own Spider Saloff on vocals.