David Baker

American jazz composer, trombonist, professor of music and author

David Nathaniel Baker Jr. (December 21, 1931 – March 26, 2016) was an American jazz composer, conductor, and musician from Indianapolis, as well as a professor of jazz studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Baker is best known as an educator and founder of the jazz studies program. From 1991 to 2012, he was conductor and musical and artistic director for the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. He has more than 65 recordings, 70 books, and 400 articles to his credit.

He received the James Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution, an American Jazz Masters Award, a National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award, a Sagamore of the Wabash award, and a Governor's Arts Award from the State of Indiana. Baker also held leadership positions in several arts and music associations. The Indiana Historical Society named Baker an Indiana Living Legend in 2001. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named him a Living Jazz Legend in 2007.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Works

Blues (Deliver My Soul)
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto: I. Fast
Cello Concerto: II. Slow à la recitative
Cello Concerto: III. Fast
Essay for Orchestra
Ethnic Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Inspiration
Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra
Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra: I. Jitterbug
Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra: II. Slow Drag
Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra: III. Calypso
Le-Roi
Roots II
Roots II: I. Incantation
Roots II: II. Dance in Congo Square
Roots II: III. Sorrow Song
Roots II: IV. Boogie Woogie
Roots II: V. Jubilee
Someone Is Sending Me Flowers
Sonata for Cello and Piano
Sonata for Cello and Piano: I. Fast
Sonata for Cello and Piano: II. Blues
Sonata for Cello and Piano: III. Fast