Musical director and composer for the documentary project
is David Baker. Dr. Baker is an award-winning performer,
composer, and educator who is a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy
Award nominee. He is the recipient of many honors, including
the National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame
Award and the National Endowment for the Arts American
Jazz Masters Award. He is the conductor and artistic
director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
and has performed all over the world with bands that
featured Quincy Jones, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson,
and Lionel Hampton. His compositions, which include
jazz, symphonic and chamber works, total more than 2,000
in number. 
Dr. Baker is an active member of the National Council
on the Arts, the board of the American Symphony Orchestra
League, the Jazz Advisory Panel to the Kennedy Center,
and the Jazz/Folk/Ethnic Panel of the National Endowment
for the Arts. He is President of the National Jazz Service
Organization and senior consultant for music programs
for the Smithsonian Institution. He has more than 65
recordings, 70 books, and 400 articles to his credit.
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