Shorty Baker
Harold "Shorty" Baker (May 26, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA – November 8, 1966 in New York City) was a jazz trumpeter.
Baker began on drums, but switched to trumpet during his teens. He started his career on riverboats and played with Don Redman in the mid-1930s. He also worked with Teddy Wilson and Andy Kirk before joining Duke Ellington. He married Kirk's pianist Mary Lou Williams and though the two separated shortly thereafter, they never officially divorced.
Baker worked on and off in Duke Ellington's Orchestra from 1942 to 1962. He also worked with Johnny Hodges's group in the early 1950s during the period when Hodges was not a member of Ellington's orchestra.
He died of throat cancer in New York at the age of 52.[1]
Discography
As leader/co-leader
- The Broadway Beat (King, 1959)
- The Bud Freeman All-Stars featuring Shorty Baker (Swingville, 1960) with Bud Freeman
- Shorty & Doc (Swingville, 1961) with Doc Cheatham
As sideman
With Johnny Hodges
- The Blues (Norgran, 1952–54, [1955])
- Used to Be Duke (Norgran, 1954)
- The Big Sound (Verve, 1957)
With Billy Strayhorn
- Cue for Saxophone (Felsted, 1959)
External links
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- ^ Owsley, D. (2006). City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973. United States: Reedy Press, p. 57