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About Lynn's Playing |
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| "You were there at the beginning!" | |
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John Zorn, March 1996
Said to Lynn in a Knitting Factory greenroom |
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| "The consummate skill set he brings to the table is beyond impressive. He is an accomplished saxophonist and doubler equally at home in Bebop, Classical and those organic improvisational contexts which demand not only a superior technical mastery of the instrument but a total trust of the intuitive and ability to deliver a sonic integrity emanating from the WHOLE MUSICIAN, not a rehashing of vocabulary which has long been codified beyond the point where anything fresh and new can be said." | |
| Richard
Boukas
Malandro Recording Artist artist-faculty, New School Jazz & Contemporary Music Program, New York City IAJE Resource Chair in Brazilian Music |
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| "Lynn Baker plays saxophone in a way that exceeds any narrow definition of 'Jazz.' Yes, he gives genuine respect to all the eras of the art, playing the Bebop part for example. But because he's a modern thinker, he will also jump out into the edge to push and pull you in with yet an individual approach and sound that's riveting!" | |
| "Sizzling..." | |
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Eugene Register Guard
Eugene, Oregon, 1978 |
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| "...a warm, understated tenor solo...strong blowing on tenor...the soprano saxophone catches fire on the classic Here's That Rainy Day." | |
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The Lamont School of Music
Jazz Faculty - The Climb
a review by Craig Leavitt The Gift of Jazz Magazine February, 1996, Vol.2, Num. 2 |
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| "Lynn Baker is a musician endowed with those qualities that elevate him above the norm. He is a fine player with the background and knowledge that allow him to clearly express his music directly to his audience." | |
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Marvin Stamm
Jazz Trumpet and Educator |
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| "Malcolm Lynn Baker is perhaps the finest
saxophonist that I know. His command of both the instrument and the
music is rare in any genre, and he brings an intensity to his playing thatis
singularly compelling. Everyone who hears him play can tell that
they are hearing a master musician at work.
That I should feel this way is, perhaps,
not a surprise. We have been friends and collaborators for some 20
years, and I have been honored by his performances of my music. But
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James Mark Olsen
Composer |
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About Lynn's Teaching |
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| "Lynn was a person of great intellectual
curiosity, willing to take risks and operate at the liminal conditions
of music, not the comfortable, known center. The first day of his
"sound exploratory ensemble" was spent listening to "silence" in various
facilities--just the kind of thing to make an impressionable sophomore's
head spin. Lynn was among a handful of teachers who dared to throw
out all of the paradigms, manufacture a relevant ancestry, and start
over." |
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| Mark Applebaum
Assistant Prof. of Music, Stanford University |
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| "...an obvious enthusiasm for the music and desire to pass it on to those younger musicians who also share the love of this music make him an excellent teacher and educator in addition to being an excellent performer." | |
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Marvin Stamm
Jazz Trumpet and Educator |
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| "'I wouldn't be the twisted person I am
today without the insidious influence of Malcolm Lynn Baker during my undergraduate
years...'
Maybe the wrong track. How about something like: 'Malcolm Lynn Baker helped open my mind to worlds of new possibilities and different ways of hearing music during the time I studied jazz and improvisation with him at Carleton College.' " |
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| "I have known Lynn Baker for fifteen years
and have to say that he is about as close to the whole package as anyone
will find in the Jazz industry- performing, composing, arranging, educating,
innovative, perspicacious administrating, curricular design that maximizes
all the new technology can offer, and the uncanny ability to break down
the false stylistic barriers in music education that others of less ecumenical
capacity cloak as stylistic expertise by default.
Lynn is brilliant, and effortlessly so. He takes himself far less seriously than those with a tenth of his talent or that the great fruits of his labors would warrant- for he is about crafting the future and not basking in the complacency of present accomplishments. For all who have had the fortune to work with him, he is a total joy to be with. Regardless of the setting, for Baker, music and its pure enjoyment come first. His infectious positive energy inspires his students to rise to their highest potential without the traditional teacher-student dialectic impeding either the development of vital expression or the transmission of core artistic values. For anyone interested in experiencing a most special musician, artist and educator, I suggest you click on his URL right now and open your date books wide." |
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| Richard
Boukas
Malandro Recording Artist artist-faculty, New School Jazz & Contemporary Music Program, New York City IAJE Resource Chair in Brazilian Music |
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About Lynn's Composing |
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| "Lynn's composing doesn't stop with horns
and rhythm section. How about integrating the electronic musical
language! In the big band world, he LEADS AND DIRECTS the Creative
Music Works Orchestra, one of only a handful of serious Jazz Repertory
Orchestras in the country, doing an incredible job arranging for a multitude
of Jazz masters, from Ellington to Kenton and others. Plus, yes,
the contemporary composer that the other bands overlook. In addition
to programming, arranging/transcribing, and conducting, he also performs
with the orchestra gaining the respect of ALL the orchestra members, giving
that historical perspective it's due!
A full spectrum, lively, enthusiastic musician I'd say! |
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| "Lynn Baker is a master musician whose contributions to the world of contemporary jazz, as performer, composer and educator, will have a lasting impact. His work is distinguished by virtuosity and originality, and by a creative versatility that allows him the privilege of handling with command many musical languages and styles." | |
| Ricardo
Iznaola
International Renowned Classical Guitarist and Pedagogue |
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