David Baker - sound engineer - R.I.P.

Frank Kimbrough · July-17th-2004, 01:08 PM

I can't believe it - I just heard this morning that recording engineer David Baker passed away in Rochester on Wednesday. He was there for a recording session and apparently died in his sleep Tuesday night. Details have been scant so far, so that's all I know. I knew David for almost 20 years - he was an incredibly gifted engineer and a great friend to the music and to those of us who make it. Condolences to his wife, Kyoko. God bless you, David - you were the best, and will be sorely missed.

graypencil · July-17th-2004, 01:29 PM

Frank:

I'm sorry for the sudden loss of your friend and my sympathies are with his family, but I'll bet many others that read the thread title might assume this referred to the jazz educator of the same name ..as I did.

Phil Kelly

Frank Kimbrough · July-17th-2004, 03:17 PM

Hi Phil - I've edited my post for clarity. Lois - if you see this, can you change the thread title? Thanks, and sorry for any confusion.

Lois Gilbert · July-17th-2004, 04:18 PM

Yes I heard this on Thursday, but couldn't get a confirm. He had lost a lot of weight recently, but said it was a new diet. It is extremely sad news. Here is a bio I found, although it is not current. As far as I know his last date in NY was with the George Cables Trio produced by Suzanne Severini.

It should come as no surprise that David Baker has stayed a busy person in the recording industry with over 2,000 recordings to his credit. His qualifications practically start before his birth, in 1945, through his grandfather. The elder Baker was a salesman for Columbia Records in the late twenties. At age six, Baker's father, Harry, established Baker Audio in Atlanta, GA. David grew up around this business and assisted in installing large hi-fi systems with his father. Baker Audio eventually housed an AM/FM radio station and became know as the "House That Music Built". This environment can be credited for sparking Baker's interest in engineering as he began making amateur recordings of everything from B Minor Mass to Jazz Big Bands and editing tapes at the radio station. Not too long after, Baker began coordinating sound for the Atlanta Arts Festival, which required operating all stage audio and preparing over sixteen hours of music per year. In 1965, at the age of twenty, Baker headed out to work on his biggest undertaking at that point is his career.

The Civil Rights movement was gaining strong momentum at that time in history, and Baker was recommended for some recording work that was needed. Baker headed to the Mississippi Delta and began doing a number of field recordings ranging from registration drives to church hall meetings. According to Baker, "The Civil Rights Movement had a profound influence on my life in musical engineering." The final product of these field recordings became the important Movement Soul album, which is still available from the Library of Congress.

It was now 1967, the "Summer of Love", and the jazz scene was in the middle of a major metamorphosis that would change the history of the genre. Baker knocked on the door of Apostolic Studios in New York City; at the time it was home to Frank Zappa and the Mothers. Baker stated that he knew right away this was the place for him. After years of experience, Baker also began formal training at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto during the summer of '67 and The Institute of Audio Research in NYC during the fall. He remained at Apostolic, as Chief Engineer, until they closed their doors in 1970. It was during this time Baker made the Spaces album with John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell.

David and Kyoko Baker
With Apostolic closed, Baker headed to Portland on the advice of a friend. He quickly became indifferent to the scene in the northwest and returned to New York City within six months. He now found himself working as the Chief Engineer for No Soap Radio, a small advertising agency in the Village, producing radio jingles. In 1973, Baker knocked on the door of Vanguard Records. He became their Chief Engineer, where he remained until 1975 to pursue an independent career. At this point a strong connection between Baker and Japan became established. Baker had met engineer Yoshihiro Suzuki and began working on projects for the Phillips/Eastwind label. His connection with Suzuki and producer Yasohachi Itoh is still a strong working relationship today at Sony Records.

Baker remained primarily a free-lance engineer until 1986 when he began the undertaking of remastering the entire Vanguard Classics catalog for CD re-release. He has worked for ECM, Enja, Blue Note, Atlantic, Sony, Verve, Black Saint, Soul Note and Amulet…just to name a few.

With combined project sales well into the millions, Baker has no intentions of slowing down. "Record production quality at the source remains my primary goal," says Baker. This statement is quite evident on his newest project Pitamaha: Music from Bali, which sounds more like a studio recording than a field recording. He has so many accomplishments that they could not all be listed. His long-term relationship with Shirley Horn recording for Verve has earned a Grammy, and to date he has traveled the world over in the line of duty. Baker has become one of the masters of the art of recording. Many people can do it, but very few can do it with the dedication and distinction Baker has achieved consistently over the last three decades.

Ellery Eskelin · July-19th-2004, 08:31 AM

I just heard this...a real shock...David was a friend of many, many musicians. He loved the music and would make you play better just by his enthusiasm. And he was great at what he did. I personally owe David quit a debt as he was responsible for getting me recorded for the first time on a label (it was his recommendation that got Joint Venture on enja records). He recorded pretty much everyone on the scene at one time or another. I'm truly saddened by this news...David was still rather young and this apparently came without warning.

Rest in peace David...we love you...

I got this announcement via e-mail:

From: Katsuhiko Naito
Date: Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:55:44 AM America/New_York
To: Katsuhiko Naito
Subject: David Baker

You have already heard of it, but David Baker passed away on Wednesday, July 14th in Rochester, NY while he was doing recording there.
He was staying his friend's house and died in sleep in the early Wednesday morning.
We don't know what has exactly caused his death yet, but as of now it seems to be a natural death and not to be suffered with pain.
His family funeral is held in Atlanta on 24th or 25th of July, where he grew up and his sisters live.
We will have a memorial service in New York at Avatar Studios in early August.
We will post the information on Avatar's web site http://avatarstudios.net.

Katsuhiko Naito

ladymadonna61 · July-19th-2004, 09:35 PM

God ...We are losing too many of our people in this music.
My prayers are with his family.

Ellery Eskelin · July-22nd-2004, 10:39 AM

Here's some information about the memorial service:
http://www.avatarstudios.net/news/Ba...alService.html

and a detailed bio:
http://www.avatarstudios.net/community/baker.html

Lois Gilbert · July-23rd-2004, 11:31 PM

We are deeply saddened to have to report that the great recording engineer David Baker has passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep after finishing a session in Rochester, New York on July 14, 2004. He was 58. Mr. Baker is survived by his wife, Kyoko Baker. A private family funeral will be held in Atlanta on July 24.

Memorial Service Details

Date: Monday, August 16
Time: From Noon until 10 PM
Location: Avatar Studios (441 West 53rd Street, between Ninth & Tenth)
Room: Studio A

A semi-formal service with family members will be held for about an hour starting at Noon. The studio will be open until 10 PM for people to stop by and pay their respects. We are expecting a few musicians to pay musical tribute to Mr. Baker. If you are interested in performing, please contact Kirk Imamura at Avatar Studios in advance. The performances will be recorded a la Baker-style and will be given to family members. The recordings will not be for commercial distribution.

http://www.avatarstudios.net/news/Ba...alService.html

D.D. Jackson · July-24th-2004, 06:22 AM

I am in shock. David was one of the most musical engineers I've ever had the pleasure to work with - he really had such an unparalleled sense of balance and always managed to achieve such a warm, natural, swinging (airy/organic) sound with his mixes. I was literally just thinking about trying to engage his services for my next CD project earlier today. RIP, David...
- D.D. Jackson

Joel Frahm · July-24th-2004, 02:42 PM

I am sorry to hear this. David was a pleasure to work with, and every project I ever did with him sounded warm and natural. Plus, he had such a great vibe in the studio. My sincere condolences.

Ellery Eskelin · August-16th-2004, 07:49 PM

David's memorial was today. A sad but positive celebration of the man's life. Makes one stop and think that we don't always have time to let the people who are so important to us know how we feel about them. I like to think that they know it from the quality of the relationship but when someone leaves prematurely and without notice I realize that it's never a bad thing to tell them so in words.

Members of the family and close friends spoke for an hour or so then the musicians began to play. The memorial was slated to go into the evening hours and I couldn't stay for the duration. But David Liebman played with Bob Moses and then with Badal Roy. Bassist Gene Perla led a band. Frank Kimbrough was getting set to play and Steve Kuhn, Benny Wallace, John Scofiled and Medeski, Marttin and Wood were also scheduled among many others.

David's life was an inspiration.

A bittersweet day...