David Baker kicks off jazz season

The IU Jazz band opened the jazz season Monday as David Baker led his band at the Musical Arts Center for the free concert.

Baker, a distinguished professor of music and chairman of the jazz department in the Jacobs School of Music, is a world renowned composer with more than 2,000 compositions. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching from IU.

He has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the Grammy Award. He was honored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with its Living Jazz Legend Award in 2007.

The next performance of the David Baker Jazz Ensemble will take place Oct. 25.