Recent ‘re-imagined’ releases (notably on Blue Note) might be seen as a reasonable compromise between recycling familiar – and therefore ‘safe’ – material and bringing on new artists. The name Chet Baker immediately suggests both a lightness of touch and a sense of sweet, melancholy romance. It’s interesting, therefore, to hear how closely the different reinterpreters have adhered to these basic qualities, and whether those who depart from them have created something new that is worth hearing.

In the latter camp is Ezra Collective’s trumpet-master Ife Ogunjobi, whose ‘Speak Low’ trucks along very groovily. The majority of the singers also do a splendid job of reinterpreting Chet’s well-known repertoire.

Among them are London-based soul singer Joel Culpepper, whose playful take on ‘Look for the Silver Lining’ starts off a bit like ‘Benny and the Jets’, with some alarming falsetto excursions and sublime vocal harmonies. Eloise is another: she keeps it simple with an acoustic guitar arrangement of ‘That Old Feeling’, while Australian-Filipino grentperez [sic] is one who attempts a breathy Chet Baker vocal approach, and actually pulls it off with his gentle latin version of ‘But Not For Me’. Hohnen Ford is another one who has grasped the need to keep the songs sweet and light: her ‘I Get Along Without You Very Well’ is one of the highlights of the album.

Reharmonisations and melodic departures from the original can often create interesting effects. However, in this case, these are the less successful tracks, as are those with excessively mannered vocal delivery.