Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Ethan Hawke stars as jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in the biopic Born to be Blue
(Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films)IFC films has released the official trailer for Born to be Blue, a new biopic starring Ethan Hawke as the talented but troubled West Coast trumpeter Chet Baker.
The film depicts Baker’s life in the 1950s and ’60s, when the trumpeter’s career and personal life were in shambles due to years of heroin addiction. Spurred in part by a passionate romance, Baker attempts to stage a hard-fought comeback and secure his legacy as a jazz icon.
Directed by Robert Budreau, the film co-stars British actress Carmen Ejogo and Canadian television actor Callum Keith Rennie.
Born to be Blue debuted at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. It will be released in select theaters March 11 and will be available on Video on Demand March 31. The soundtrack for the film, which includes two tracks sung by Hawke, will be available March 18 from Rhino Records.
Watch the trailer here:
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
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John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
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