Stream: Robert Francis, ‘Valentine’ (Chet Baker covers)

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Robert Francis
Robert Francis

The fireplace is ablaze. The hot cocoa is steaming. Perhaps you’re cuddled up with somebody special. Here’s your soundtrack. L.A.-based singer-songwriter Robert Francis, who has released four albums of Americana and has a fifth waiting in the wings, has covered the entirety of “Chet Baker Sings,” the legendary singer-trumpeter’s 1956 album. Regarded as a West Coast jazz classic, the album was Baker’s vocal debut, featuring his guileless (and, as it turns out, rapturous) singing on such nuggets as Rodgers and Hart’s “My Funny Valentine.”

That Francis would choose to send his own “Valentine” to such a classic work is interesting. The idea was hatched during the weekly jazz night at the Los Feliz club Rockwell produced by John Mastro, owner of Aeronaut Records (which has released two of Francis’ four albums), and often featuring Jeff Goldblum’s band the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. “From time to time, Robert drops by,” Mastro says. “He’s not a jazz guy by any means, but he does love good musicianship and a decent cocktail. The last time he came by I asked him to sing a standard with the band. The only tune he could remember most of the lyrics for was ‘My Funny Valentine.’ Before the first line was finished, the crowd had become starkly quiet. Before the song was over I got the idea to do this record. Three weeks later, Robert and the very band he sang with that night recorded these eight classic songs in one day. The result is a mesmerizing blend of emotion and musical virtuosity.”

“Valentine,” recorded to 2-track tape at engineer Mark Rains’ Station House Studio in Echo Park, features Goldblum’s players — guitarist John Storie, bassist Tim Emmons, drummer Kenny Elliot and saxophonist Zane Musa. It’s the last recorded performance by Musa, who died in February a few weeks after the album was finished. “Valentine” is dedicated to his memory. The album is out digitally on Dec. 11, but a limited run of 500 autographed copies on 10-inch vinyl is out today.

||| Stream: “Valentine” in its entirety:

||| Watch: The video for “My Funny Valentine”