JAZZ

American jazz trumpet player Chet Baker may have used heroin before plunging to his death Thursday from an Amsterdam hotel window, police said on Sunday. “We found a small amount of heroin in his room. We believe he used some a few minutes before he died. We don’t know if he jumped or fell,” Amsterdam police spokesman Klaas Wilting said. Baker’s road manager, Peter Huyts, told Reuters it appeared likely that Baker’s fall on Thursday from a second-story hotel window was an accident. “Someone who wants to commit suicide wouldn’t do it from the second story. He probably was sitting in the window and fell asleep after taking drugs,” Huyts said. Baker, 58, withdrew from playing in the 1970s after admitting heroin use. He was known for a lyrical style on the trumpet and played with Gerry Mulligan among other jazz stars.