my interest in music began with my dad, robert baumann. like me, my dad is a musician (he plays saxophone and clarinet). my father introduced me to a myriad of great musicians like john coltrane, miles davis, charles lloyd, and lou donaldson.
i've played the alto saxophone since i was 12 years old. when i arrived in my late teens i got deep into john coltrane and miles davis...john coltrane was the catalyst and my inspiration to undertake the tenor saxophone.
i attended the school of music at bowling green state university and studied classical saxophone under dr. john sampen and improvisation / jazz under jay miglia and gunnar mossblad. to say that the ecm sound has had an enormous influence on my music would be an understatement. jay introduced me to the ecm sound via keith jarrett and jan garbarek and from there i discovered even more ecm records on my own; terje rypdal, kenny wheeler, ralph towner, bill frisell, and paul motian all became my teachers.
although those many musicians have had a hand in sculpting my music and musical interests, the musician and artist i must thank and credit for my pursuance of solo playing is trumpeter bill dixon. before hearing bill dixon i was always wondering about and yearning for a simpler, more lonely, and desolate kind of music outside of what i was playing in bands. that all changed for me when i heard the album "collection" which is an album of dixon's collected solo trumpet music.
even though i'm not widely known or widely understood, i now feel that i'm finally playing in a style and form (or anti-form if you will) all my own. i have eight albums out to date, and if the mood should strike you please click on the'albums' tab to view and purchase...
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