Jen Baker: Performances
Jen Baker projects her trombone into the far reaches of the conceivable, redefining the role of the performer in creative music. Since earning her degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Mills College, she has commissioned numerous solos and chamber works, including Bohu for solo trombone, and Spirit in the Flesh, a collaborative theater piece for trombonist, soprano, and dancer, recently premiered at Princeton University. As a touring soloist, she performs Lyrical Vibrations, her unique blend of composition and improvisation based on multiphonics. Her first CD, Blue Dreams (2008, Dilapidated Barns) is a collection of these pieces. Baker is a founding member of Bang on a Can's Asphalt Orchestra and has performed or recorded in collaboration with David Byrne, Stuart Dempster, Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, Cecil Taylor, William Winant, Joelle Leandre, Kyoko Kitamura, Alvin Curran, the Mountain Goats and was featured on the soundtrack to Werner Herzog's Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World. Besides her regular appearances in Banana Bag and Bodice's songplay Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, she freelances in the New York City area and plays with a host of symphonic, chamber, and contemporary music ensembles.
About Blue Dreams: "A few of these pieces are dark and mysterious and most effective at evoking scary spirits or ghosts. From calming daydreams to evocative nightmares, this disc is completely enchanting." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
