David Baker

David Baker (b. Indianapolis, December 21, 1931 - d. Bloomington, March 26, 2016 ) – Trombonist, cellist, educator, composer, and conductor. Having lived most of his life in Indiana, David Baker is not only a leading authority on the Indiana Avenue jazz scene (his old stomping grounds), but he is also a world renowned jazz educator and musician. A graduate of Crispus Attucks High School, Baker played trombone with any imaginable aggregate of Indy jazz musicians in the 1940s and 1950s. He also led his own quartet, which had a regular gig at the Topper on 34^th Street. Along with saxophonist David Young, Baker left his quartet and Indy behind to form the nucleus of the George Russell Sextet. He then went on to play with Stan Kenton (1956), Maynard Ferguson (1957) and Lionel Hampton (1961). Following a stint with Quincy Jones in 1962, a jaw injury ended his trombone career, forcing him to switch to cello. Unfettered by the change, Baker has enjoyed a long career as both the Chair of the Department of Jazz Studies at Indiana University and as a prolific composer. Currently, he was also conductor and artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Lastly, Baker was inducted into Down Beat’s Jazz Education Hall of Fame in 1994.