David Baker

Dr. David Baker

(December 21, 1931 – March 26, 2016)

David Baker was born and raised in Indianapolis, receiving his earliest musical training in grade school and continuing at Crispus Attucks High School under the instruction of Russell Brown.  His first instrument of choice was the tuba, which unfortunately the school did not have. Baker decided to construct one from a cigar box and string so he could practice his fingering techniques and Brown, recognizing Baker’s determination, obtained a sousaphone which he presented to Baker for his use.  He transitioned from tuba to trombone and began playing around Indianapolis at the 16th Street Tavern and the 19th Hole with either Tiny Adams or Mingo Jones on bass, Earl Van Riper on piano and Robert “Sonny” Johnson on drums.

Dr. Baker received both bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Indiana University and has studied with a wide range of master teachers, performers and composers including J.J. Johnson, Bobby Brookmeyer, Janos Starker, George Russell, William Russo, Bernard Heiden, and Gunther Schuller, among others. A 1973 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Dr. Baker was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1979 and has been honored three times by Down Beat magazine -- as a trombonist, for lifetime achievement, and as the third inductee to their Jazz Education Hall of Fame.

Dr. Baker was Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, as well as conductor and artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. A virtuoso performer on multiple instruments and top in his field in several disciplines, Mr. Baker has taught and performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Dr. Baker has received numerous awards, including the National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award (1981), President's Award for Distinguished Teaching from Indiana University (1986), the Arts Midwest Jazz Masters Award (1990), the Governor's Arts Award of the State of Indiana (1991), the Indiana Historical Society’s Living Legend Award (2001), the James Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution (2002), the American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (2000), and an Emmy Award (2003) for his musical score for the PBS documentary For Gold and Glory. He has received honorary doctorates from Wabash College, Oberlin College, and the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2007 he was honored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with their Living Jazz Legend Award.