Spotlight on Chas Baker
Welcome to George’s Jazz Nook!
In preparation for our upcoming CD Release and Concert on May 20th, CJO Board President and musicologist, Dr. George Blake, reached out to a number local musicians who have been taught by Chas Baker - the musician whose original compositions are the heart of our new CD, “The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra - Live at the Bop Stop.” During his tenure as a music educator, as well as musician, he’s inspired so many others to continue sharing the power of music with future generations.
Learn, live, and love jazz.
Our mission at the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra is to engage the community “with original music, exceptional performances, and inspirational educational programming.” However, composition, performance and education are not always clear. They have often gone together in jazz history, with musicians learning from each other on-stage and off.
One longtime CJO band member, trombonist Chas Baker, exemplifies this melding of composition, performance and education, and on May 20th, 2024, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra will celebrate the release of Baker’s original compositions.
I want to take a moment to shine a light on the way that Chas Baker’s work as a composer and performer ties into his influence as an educator. To learn more about Baker’s influence, I spoke to several of his former students who continued in the field of music education professionally.
Roberto Iriarte, Director of Orchestras and Jazz Ensembles in the Hudson City School District, studied at Kent State with Baker in the early 1990s, alongside a number of other students who went on to become musician/educators. Inspired by the example he set, Iriarte states that Baker “cultivated this culture for us to want to be professional. We held ourselves accountable because we had so much respect for him.”
For Iriarte, Baker represents the headwaters of a stream of jazz that is audible across the region. The downstream impact of Baker’s influence on the high school scene in the area is immense. This is evident in programming: “if you knew Chas because you went to Kent State, you learned to teach jazz of every genre and every time period. You teach Basie, Ellington, and Thad Jones and today’s modern writers, so that our kids are experiencing funk, rock, Latin, and swing.” According to Iriarte, there are two types of jazz educators: those who studied with Baker at Kent – and those who call Baker for a clinic with their group.
Similarly, Greg A. Newman, Director of Bands in Stow-Monroe Falls City School District, told me: “The way I approach teaching jazz is entirely based on my experience with Chas.” He particularly emphasized the significance of conducting on modeling articulation with the voice in the classroom. Like everyone I talked to about Baker, in addition to learning about jazz, Newman learned some key life lessons about being a respectful person and carrying himself as a professional.
Raleigh Daley, Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky School of Music states: “So glad you are honoring him, what an amazing teacher, musician, and human being! Chas is the teacher I think of most often in my own work these days - much of my teaching approach stems from my time with him. His playing (he played often in class, usually on euphonium) always sounded to me like it had so much history behind it. I wanted that sound - informed by tradition, looking for (as he would say) the ’juicy’ notes. I really learned so much more than the music - how to get and keep a gig, how to manage life as a professional musician. He was ’cool’ but if you weren't making it, he would tell you, but somehow in a way that didn't seem critical, so much as inspiring, to reach further. “
Kent State University’s current director of jazz studies, saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio states that Chas Baker’s “influence as an educator has made Northeast Ohio one of the hipper high school jazz scenes around.”
Selvaggio, who has released many acclaimed albums and has appeared in Downbeat “Best of” lists, among other accolades states: “Without his mentoring, I would not have accomplished half of what I have.” He also suggests that Baker’s “caring for the music and the musicians that play it is underappreciated. And his hip factor is as high as there is around here.”
Now, “hipness” has not emerged as a standardized metric in assessing pedagogical excellence, but hipness cropped up again and again when Baker’s former students explained why Baker is so powerful as a mentor.
Raleigh Daley states: “I think he was the first person I knew who was HIP - he spoke a different (verbal and musical) language than my other professors, more related to the music and culture I was interested in. His deep respect for (and knowledge of) the music was immediately inspiring; the way he spoke about people like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Gil Evans made me want to learn more about them, play like them, and address that tradition in a meaningful way.” Roberto Iriarte suggests that part of Baker’s hipness was shaped by a quality over quantity approach to teaching: “I always remember that Chas did not have to use a lot of words to say what he wanted to say. Sometimes the silence is as powerful as the words, much as it is in music…” Playing gigs with Baker as a pro, he still finds inspiration: “he is always upbeat, ready to make the music the most important thing…”
For Iriarte, this hipness is also connected to Baker’s sense of his students: “Being direct if you’re not doing your job…always held us accountable in a loving way.” But he does not take a one-size-fits-all approach. Put in technical terms, Baker was doing “differentiation” (a term used in contemporary pedagogical scholarship) decades ago: “he would give you what you needed to become a better musician when you needed it.” In Iriarte’s case, a moment that stands out was when he sustained an injury and was under doctor’s orders to stop playing his instruments. So, Chas Baker told him that it was time to learn to become an arranger. Additionally, Baker modelled professionalism in the school setting: “We would sight read a chart a week before it went to CJO. There was all of that real-world experience was going on in the rehearsal.”
Paul Ferguson, former Baker student and current Cleveland Jazz Orchestra Artistic Director, states: “Chas was the perfect teacher for me, musically and temperamentally. Without sacrificing fundamentals, he introduced me to jazz right away and generously lent me recordings. Under Chas I advanced on trombone, piano and composition. Frankly, with more conventional teachers I could have become bored and possibly even quit.” Baker’s leadership continues in what he brings to CJO and the spaces he opens: “Leaving an organization is often tricky. I've seen a number of departures end in acrimony. Chas never really left the CJO. He just made room for younger talent and began composing more. So his presence remains as strong as ever.”
At the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, we know that teachers make a difference and the impact of a hip teacher is something we carry with us through life.
If you have stories you want to share about how the CJO, Chas Baker, or another jazz performer/educator shaped your life, we would love to here about it:
We look forward to seeing you at 3663 Mayfield Rd on Monday, May 20th, at 7:30 p.m.
Couldn't make it to the show?
Stay tuned for the next installment of George’s Jazz Nook! Until then, be well.
Do you want to learn more about jazz and music in Cleveland?
If you attend the concert on Monday, May 20th, you’ll have the chance for a 25% off discount at Visible Voice Books in Tremont, on books about jazz or Cleveland music. Support local!