Harold Shorty Baker

Harold Shorty Baker, November 1946

Harold "Shorty" Baker (born May 26, 1914 in St. Louis (Missouri) , † November 8, 1966 in New York City ) was an American swing jazz trumpeter . He became known for his play in the Duke Ellington Orchestra .

“Shorty” Baker first learned drums and began his career in the late 1920s as a trumpeter in his brother's band, trombonist Winfield Baker. He played in the early 1930s with Erskine Tate and Fate Marable , then in 1932 with Eddie Johnson, from 1935 to 1937 with Don Redman , in 1938 briefly with the Duke Ellington Orchestra ; other stations were the bands of Teddy Wilson 1939-40, Andy Kirk 1940-42, where he met Mary Lou Williams in 1942 , whom he then married. From 1943 to 1951 he played again with Duke Ellington and toured with him in 1950 through Europe, where recordings for the Swing label were made in Paris . In 1952 he played again with Teddy Wilson and Ben Webster , 1954–55 with Johnny Hodges and 1957–59 again with Duke Ellington ( Blues in Orbit ). Then Harold Baker founded his own quartet, played in the Embers and was an accompanist in the Metropole Cafe .

Baker's more lyrical style of playing is u. a. to be heard on the Elli ngton recordings " Trumpet No End " 1946, " New York City Blues " 1947, " Time's A-Wastin ' " 1949, as well as on the Johnny Hodges track " Time On My Hands " 1954. In addition to these orchestras, Baker made recordings with musicians such as Harry Carney in 1945 and Nelson Williams in 1950, also with Doc Cheatham , Ella Fitzgerald and Russell Procope on the record Giants of Small Band Swing, Vol. 1 ( OJC ).

literature

• Martin Kunzler : Jazz-Lexikon , Reinbek, Rowohlt 1988.
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Bielefeld Jazz Catalog, 2001.
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .