Musician Profile

Band Info

Edwin ‘Boots’ Baker – Trombone. My sole musical qualification is Grade 3 Violin, when I was about 10. Having wriggled out of violin lessons I kept away from musical instruments in spite of the fact that my Mum was a piano teacher, until at 17 in 1959, I discovered Jack Teagarden. I had lessons for 4 terms and then after about a year or more not playing, I joined a local trad band in my home town of Maidstone that was losing its trombone player to marriage. We were terrible. But I continued muddling along and eventually in 1970 I joined the Main Avenue Band in north London with Bernie Biggs, trumpet, Frank Anderson, clarinet, Dave Fawcett, banjo, John Parkin or Mick Adamec, bass and Pete Smith, drums. In c.1978 I switched to Alvin Roy's band. Alvin clarinet, Dave Barrett / Alan Littlejohn / Ray Crane trumpet, George Oag guitar, Nobby Williams bass, Martin Guy drums. Then followed a fallow period until, after meeting Trevor and Ramona Swale at a friend's house jam-session party I was asked to replace Jeff Cole in the New Dixie Syncopators, which had a Sunday lunchtime residency at the Half Moon Putney, in about 1984 or 5. (Jeff joined Brian White at that point). When I joined we had Clive Peerless trumpet, Pete Batten clarinet, Clive Pryke and Trevor Swale, reeds, Geoff Over banjo, Dave Rylance piano, Dave Hill Sousaphone, Dick Smith drums. Eventually the personnel changed to Ray Crane, trumpet with Pete Danby and Trevor on reeds and Tony Scrivener and later Denis Smith drums. This band broke up in 1991, but meanwhile I had joined the Mike Daniels Big Band at the Lord Napier Thornton Heath in around 1985 or 6, on 3rd trombone, a chair I still hold today (although with Mike's having left the band he had formed many years before its name was changed to the New Delta Big Band). John Lee and Don Smith also play in that band, and have done far longer than me. When Mike returned from living in Majorca he reformed his 6-piece Delta Jazzmen with Jeff Williams on trombone and when Jeff left to join Ray Gelato's Giants I joined. (Strangely when Jeff later left Ray Gelato, my son Andy replaced him).
Currently I play in a trio in at the Tudor Rose Wine Bar in Guildford on Tuesday nights with Gerry Reid, guitar and Peter Clancy, bass and of course the New Delta Big Band at the Napier on 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, plus occasional guest appearances with George's Regis Jazz Band, Otis B Driftwood and the Sussex Jazz Kings. More recently I joined the Farnham Chamber Music Club and am dabbling a bit in classical music.
My younger son Andy took up the trombone at 11 and now aged 36 is lead trombone with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and is about to graduate with a master's degree in jazz composition. He has been an inspiration to me and now I'm retired I'm trying to learn how to play the bloody thing!