Editing David Baker (composer) (section)

===Musical performer===
Baker began performing as a trombonist in Indianapolis during high school and college. He played in clubs along [[Indiana Avenue]], the heart of the city's jazz scene of the late 1940s and early 1950s, with [[Jimmy Coe]], [[Slide Hampton]], J. J. Johnson, and [[Wes Montgomery]]. He mentored [[Freddie Hubbard]] and [[Larry Ridley]].<ref name=HTonline/> He later credited the Hampton family, especially noted jazz trombonist Slide Hampton, for mentoring him in his early years. The Hamptons let him and other local musicians rehearse with their family's jazz band at their Indianapolis home.<ref name=Conversation>{{cite web| author=David Johnson| title =The Basics of David Baker: A Conversation | work =Night Lights | publisher =Indiana Public Media | date =August 28, 2007 | url =https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/the-basics-of-david-baker-a-conversation/ | access-date =July 2, 2018}}</ref>

During the 1950s Baker played in several big bands, including [[Lionel Hampton]]'s orchestra. After moving to California in 1956, he played with the West Coast jazz orchestras of [[Stan Kenton]] and [[Maynard Ferguson]] before returning to Indianapolis to lead his jazz band for two years. He performed in clubs across the United States, including the [[Five Spot Café]] in New York City with [[George Russell (composer)|George Russell]] in the late 1950s.<ref name=Conversation/><ref name=Scholarship>{{cite web | title =David N. Baker Jazz Composition Scholarship | publisher =BMI Foundation | url =https://bmifoundation.org/programs/info/david_n._baker_jazz_composition_scholarship | access-date =June 29, 2018 | archive-date =July 2, 2018 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180702233152/https://bmifoundation.org/programs/info/david_n._baker_jazz_composition_scholarship | url-status =dead }}</ref> In 1960 he toured Europe as a member of [[Quincy Jones]]'s band.<ref name=Trombone/> He also performed in Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand during his more than sixty-year career.<ref name=Buckley/>

Baker abandoned the trombone after a car accident in 1953 injured his jaw, but he began learning to play the cello in the early 1960s. Although he played trombone on the George Russell Sextet's album ''[[Ezz-thetics]]'' (1961), after sustaining the injury, Baker switched to cello for [[Charles Tyler (musician)|Charles Tyler]]'s album, ''[[Eastern Man Alone]]'' (1967).<ref name=Buckley/><ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Ezz-thetics |others=George Russell |type=liner notes |year=1961 |publisher=Riverside Records |id=RLP-9375 |first=Martin |last=Williams}}</ref><ref name="Wynn">{{cite web|author=Ron Wynn|title=David Baker: Artist Biography|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-baker-mn0000143360/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref> Baker was also able to play trombone with Russell's orchestra on ''Living Time'' (1972), a collaboration with [[Bill Evans]], before the jaw injury finally caused him to give up the trombone and focus on teaching and composition.<ref name=Tamarkin-Haga>{{cite magazine|author1=[[Jeff Tamarkin]]|author2=Evan Haga| title =David Baker, Composer and Educator, Dies as 84| magazine=[[JazzTimes]]| date =March 27, 2016 | url =https://jazztimes.com/news/david-baker-composer-and-educator-dies-at-84/ | access-date =July 2, 2018}}</ref>

Baker is credited on sixty-five recordings, including performances on two of Russell's albums, ''[[Stratusphunk]]'' (1960) and ''[[The Stratus Seekers]]'' (1962).<ref name=Scholarship/><ref name=Wynn/> Beginning in the 1990s he performed with his second wife, Lida Belt Baker, a classically trained flautist.<ref name=Higgins/>