Editing David Baker (composer) (section)

{{short description|American jazz musician (1931–2016)}}
{{Other people|David Baker}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name         = David Baker
| image        = David Baker (far left) leading the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.jpg
| landscape    = yes
| caption      = David Baker (far left) leads the [[Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra]] during the [[NEA Jazz Masters]] awards ceremony and concert in 2008.
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1931|12|21}}
| birth_place  = [[Indianapolis]], Indiana, U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2016|3|26|1931|12|21}}
| death_place  = [[Bloomington, Indiana]]
| genre        = [[Jazz]], [[classical music|classical]]
| occupation   = Musician, composer, educator, author
| instrument   = Trombone, cello
| years_active = 1950s–2016
}}

'''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 [[NEA Jazz Masters|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.