David N. Baker Jr. (born December 21, 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a leading symphonic jazz composer at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. David Jewett Baker (September 7, 1792 - August 6, 1869) was a United States Senator from Illinois. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... Indiana University is the principal campus of the Indiana University system. ... The Simon Music Center of the Jacobs School of Music The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana is generally considered to be one of the best music schools in the United States. ...

He was educated at Indiana University receiving both his Masters in Music Education and his Doctorate from that institution.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, David Baker attended Crispus Attucks High School. He thrived in the Indianapolis jazz scene of the time, serving as a mentor of sorts to talented Indianapolis-born trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Originally a talented trombonist, he was forced to abandon that instrument after a jaw injury left him unable to play (although he played brilliantly on the George Russell Sextet album Ezz-Thetics after sustaining the injury). This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (born April 7, 1938 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American jazz trumpeter. ... George Allen Russell (born June 23, 1923) is an American jazz composer and theorist. ...

Following the injury, he learned to play cello, a rare instrument in the jazz world. This shift to cello largely ended his career as a performer and marked a period of increased interest in composition and pedagogy. Among the first and most important people to begin to codify the then largely aural tradition of jazz he wrote several seminal books on jazz, including Jazz Improvisation.

As an educator he has made Indiana into a highly regarded destination for students of music. Probably the best known students ever to pass under his tutelage are Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, and the jazz-education mogul Jamey Aebersold. Michael Brecker Michael Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was a popular US jazz saxophonist of the post-Coltrane era. ... Randy Brecker (b. ... Jamey Aebersold as pictured on the cover of instructional DVD Jazz: Anyone Can Improvise Jamey Aebersold (born July 21, 1939) is an American jazz saxophonist and educator. ...

David Baker is also the conductor and musical director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. He is a member of the Down Beat hall of fame. His compositional works are often cited as examples of the Third Stream Jazz movement, although they run the gamut from traditional jazz compositions intended for improvisation, to through-composed symphonic works. He has written over 2,000 compositions. The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to jazz. ... see Third Stream ...

External links

• Indiana University webpage on Professor Baker