David Baker

by Ron WynnDavid Baker has earned plaudits as a player, writer and teacher, and on two instruments. While working towards his doctorate at Indiana University in the early and mid-'50s, Baker played in several big bands, including Lionel Hampton's. He also worked in the West Coast orchestras of Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson in 1956 and 1957, headed his own band back in Indianapolis in 1958-59, then joined George Russell's experimental combos for three years, while also spending some time in Quincy Jones's orchestra. At one time Baker was considered a coming star on trombone, but an injury he'd sustained in 1953 ultimately caused him to switch to cello in 1962, and recorded with Charles Tyler in 1967. Baker picked the trombone back up in the '70s, playing on the 1972 album Living Time with Bill Evans and George Russell conducting. Still, though he's contributed some strong trombone and cello solos, Baker's best known as an influential composer and writer of many textbooks and analysis of jazz works. His piece "Levels," a concerto for solo bass, jazz band, woodwinds and strings, garnered a 1973 Pulitzer Prize nomination. He now heads the jazz department in Indiana University's music department and has served on many national panels and commissions on jazz. At one time Baker was president of the National Jazz Service Organization.