This transcription has been edited for time and clarity.
James Baumgartner: You’re listening to The Public’s Radio, I’m James Baumgartner and this is Artscape. On this week’s show, we have a studio session with Providence-based jazz combo, the Leland Baker Trio, who made their Newport Jazz Festival debut earlier this year. Here they are in our studio, playing an original tune by Baker called Warrior 1982.
[Warrior 1982]
Leland, thanks for joining me.
Leland Baker: Thank you.
Baumgartner: How would you describe the music that you play?
Baker: I don’t know, it’s really personal, but I will say that I try to embody a legacy that I believe in. I think this music that I have an attraction to, if you would say, is more of a movement and has a lot of history to it. It’s kind of a sacred language, I like to say, what people may know as the blues. To kind of give you some kind of correlation, the stuff that I try to embody comes from that pool of expression. So I think, one way or another, the music that I like to play, the music that I write, has elements of that in it.
Baumgartner: You said the Blues as a sacred language. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Baker: Yeah, you know, that’s how I refer to it. I think there’s a lot of sacred in the sense that it is, it’s the fabric of, or part of the fabric of African American, expression. And, you know, just from a historical standpoint, that’s pretty heavy, there’s a lot to dissect when it comes to that. In an artistic way or a musical way, Black folks have been able to freely express themselves through this thing we call the blues, which to me, going back to movement, it’s part of a movement, it’s part of a larger thing, and it is a language that is sacred, something that needs to be well studied. It’s more than just, to get heady for the children out there who are studying music, it’s more than the blues scale. You know, it’s a whole palette of expression and communication.
Baumgartner: How did you get started playing music?
Baker: I started when I was 14. So I was a freshman in high school. I grew up with a mother who loved music. You know, she wasn’t a musician, but she always had stuff playing from, she grew up in the 50s, 60s, 70s. So a lot of the Motown stuff, classic R& B, all that. I would hear the Temptations, Stevie [Wonder], then get to Chaka Khan and Earth, Wind & Fire. And so I had an appreciation for music, especially vocalized music, but I knew I couldn’t sing. That was never my vision or my purpose. So I wanted to be a pilot, I wanted to go to school. I’ll go to college, aviation school after high school. But I heard Junior Walker and the All Stars, who was part of the Motown label. He was a vocalist and a sax player. Famous song called Shotgun. [Excerpt: “Shotgun” by Junior Walker and the All Stars] And I was just like, dang, this brother was able to, he sang, and then he took that same, I don’t want to say concept, but he took that same technique or whatever, or form of expression and put it on this piece of metal. And I never knew sax could sound like that. You know, went from being this band instrument, marching band instrument, to like, a voice. Legit. And I was like, maybe I can do that.. [Shotgun fades]
Baumgartner: You’re from Rhode Island, but you’ve also lived in two of the greatest cities for jazz, New York and New Orleans. How has your time living, working, and studying in those places influenced your approach to making music?
Baker: I would say both of them had a pretty deep impact. Start with New Orleans, definitely. … you know, I went to college down there, so it was my formative years, from 18 to 21 or 22 I was down there. I got my musical, you know, instruction in New Orleans. And it was more than just being in the classroom. It was being, you know, in the community, being just immersed in the culture of that city that also has a deep history and connection to black American music. Which could be a whole nother conversation. But, that definitely influenced my sound. My way of how I think and feel, as a human and as an artist. And then New York is just, I mean, New York’s like a school in itsel. A lot of lessons learned there and, and experiences just being able to, to listen to other musicians who are at such a high level in their craft and to just, you know, constantly be inspired and not discouraged, but to just absorb all that.
Baumgartner: So you’re also a music educator. And you developed a lecture series called “Bridging Gaps,” which looks at the role of improvisation in a few different art forms. Can you tell me about that?
Baker: Yeah. I mean, that concept came up when I lived in New York, actually. I worked with a nonprofit called Arts by the People.… Often after playing, I get people who come and say, “Yo, that was really cool. I know nothing about music. I’m not a musician. What was happening with you and the drummer or how are you and the bass player, or what was the bass player doing?” Like they seem, you know, people who are, wannabe avid listeners seem interested in the process. So that was the original idea of like, how can I bring the lay person into the process of improvisation within the jazz context? And we started exploring that, but then I started bridging those gaps where it’s like, okay, we can add other artists. You know, how does a dancer put improvisation into their art? And so it’s just trying to bridge those gaps of art, improvisation, and what we do.
Baumgartner: What do you want people to understand about improvisation?
Baker: I mean, within jazz, I want people to, maybe eventually see it for its place of origin within the music. I think it does, again going back to that whole sacred part and this being a language. It has roots, it has history. And the fact of the matter is, the roots of jazz is Black, is, you know, people of the African diaspora, particularly here in America. Not to say that it’s not a collection, it’s not a collection of many different cultures and ethnicities who have influenced the music, but the roots of it is, is Black.
And so, with the history of black folks in America, you know, they were treated like second or third class citizens. So improvising was a big part of daily life. and being able to have that sensibility to take something and deconstruct it and make it work for you. This constant push and pull, I mean, that is the art of improvisation within the art of jazz. So I mean, first and foremost, I mean, we could talk about chords and scales and licks and transcribing, save that for the students who are interested, but you know, the lay person, everyone who listens to the music engages with it, engages with the music, that is kind of my overall sentiment and hope.
Baumgartner: As of last year, you’re now the music education manager for the Newport Festivals Foundation. What are your goals for the foundation’s education programs and initiatives in Rhode Island and nationally?
Baker: Yeah… Where I’m coming from is I’m from Rhode Island. I’m from the Providence community and I think where the organization is and I am trying to bridge that gap with our own community to help establish some of these things I’ve talked about within music curriculums across the state and New England. Making it more visible, in terms of the history of the art, and the community it originated from. But to supply the youth with just more opportunity. You know, I often wish I had that when I was coming up. When I got to New Orleans, that’s when I really got my formal music education, because they had such an established community and culture for it in a sort of a mentor society or, you know, environment when it comes to music. We don’t really have that. So just trying to really just lay out the groundwork for the next generation with these programs.
Baumgartner: What does it mean to you to be in this role as someone who was born and raised in Rhode Island?
Baker: I definitely don’t take it for granted. Sometimes I still think about it. It’s been about a year and a half and it’s like, wow, this is really, this fits, you know? It’s funny when you look back at your life, this is a life endeavor, you know?
It’s a process. And the fact that you decide to stay with the movement, it’s important. I set out to do this at age 16. So 18, you know, got to college, 19 started playing some of my first professional gigs and here I am 35 and there’s been so many ups and downs, but just finding that, I don’t know, determination, like things are gonna work out. You constantly have to find a hustle to support the movement. And so when this came, I was like, wow, you know, thank you universe, because it came at a really good time where I was at in my life. So, I don’t take it for granted. I’m thankful. I’m happy that, being from Rhode Island, I could have this platform to impact my community and give back. Newport Festivals is legendary. It’s quite a big cultural institution in the world. One of the oldest in regards to, you know, being a festival in the art of jazz. So, yeah, I’m thankful, man.
[“Remember” by Hank Mobley]
Baumgartner: That’s the Leland Baker Trio performing “Remember” by Hank Mobley, with Leland Baker on saxophone, Kweku Aggrey on standup bass, and Marcus Grant on drums. You can listen to their music on Spotify and Apple Music… and you can see them every Sunday at the Courtland Club in Providence at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Find more episodes of Artscape at thepublicsradio.org/arts. For The Public’s Radio, I’m James Baumgartner.
