Baikida Carroll

Baikida Carroll (born January 15, 1947) is an American jazz trumpeter. Carroll studied at Southern Illinois University and at the Armed Forces School of Music. Following this he became a member of the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, where he directed their big band. This group recorded in Europe in the 1970s. Carroll was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and attended Vashon and Soldan High School. He studied trumpet with Vernon Nashville. His early influences were Clark Terry and Lee Morgan. Carroll worked with the All City Jazz Band, whose members included Lester Bowie, J.D. Parran and James ”Jabbo” Ware. While still in high school he worked with Albert King, Little Milton, and Oliver Sain. Carroll joined the United States Army in 1965 and served in the 3rd Infantry Division Band in Wurzburg, Germany. In 1968, he returned to St. Louis and led the Baikida Carroll Sextet, also becoming orchestra conductor/director of the Black Artists Group of St. Louis (BAG), a multidisciplinary arts collective that brought him into contact with Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, and John Hicks. In 1972, Carroll, Lake, Joseph Bowie, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, and Floyd LeFlore ventured to Paris, France, touring as Oliver Lake and the Black Artists Group. He also performed with Anthony Braxton, Alan Silva, Steve Lacy, and his own quartet. He taught theory and trumpet at The American Center in Paris and was artist in residence at the Cité internationale des arts. Carroll moved to New York City in 1975 and was active in the free jazz community. He also taught at Queens College. He began composing music for plays with Joseph Papp at the New York Public Theater and continued to score for Broadway and WNET-TV as part of the series The American Playhouse and at McCarter Theatre. In 1981, he performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival that celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio. His performance and recorded history includes works with Julius Hemphill, Howard Johnson, Sam Rivers, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, Oliver Lake, Carla Bley, Wadada Leo Smith, Jay McShann, Bobby Bradford, Roscoe Mitchell, Tim Berne and Naná Vasconcelos. Orange Fish Tears (Palm, 1974) The Spoken Word (HatHUT, 1977–1978 ) Shadows and Reflections (Soul Note, 1982) Door of the Cage (Soul Note, 1995) Marionettes on a High Wire (OmniTone, 2001) Human Arts Ensemble, Whisper of Dharma, Universal Justice, 1972 Solidarity Unit, Inc., Red, Black and Green, Universal Justice, 1972 Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D., Mbari, 1972 Oliver Lake, NTU, Ntu: Point from Which Creation Begins, Freedom, 1976 Black Artists Group, In Paris, Aries 1973, BAG Records, 1973; reissued by Aguirre in 2018 Julius Hemphill, Coon Bid'ness, Freedom, 1975 Hidden Strength, Hidden Strength, United Artists, 1975 Michael Gregory, Heart and Center, Novus Records, 1979 Michael Gregory, Gifts, Novus, 1979 Vinny Golia, Openhearted, Nine Winds, 1979 Oliver Lake, Prophet, Black Saint, 1980 Muhal Richard Abrams, Mama and Daddy, Black Saint, 1980 Muhal Richard Abrams, Blues Forever, Black Saint, 1980 Oliver Lake, Plug It, Gramavision, 1982 Oliver Lake, Clevont Fitzhubert, Black Saint, 1981 Muhal Richard Abrams, Rejoicing with the Light, Black Saint, 1980 Jack DeJohnette, Inflation Blues, ECM, 1983 David Murray, Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1, Black Saint, 1984 David Murray, Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2, Black Saint, 1984 Michele Rosewoman, The Source, Black Saint, 1984 John Carter, Castles of Ghana, Gramavision, 1986 David Murray, New Life, Black Saint, 1988 Carla Bley, Watts Work Family Album, ECM, 1989 Oliver Lake, Gramavision Tenth Anniversary Sampler, Gramavision, 1990 Graham Parker, Struck by Lightning, Demon, 1991 Charles Papasoff, Papasoff, Red Toucan, 1993 Steve Weisberg, I can't stand another night alone (in bed with you), ECM, 1994 New York Collective, Naxos, 1996 Pheeroan akLaff, Global Mantras, Modern Masters, 1997 New York Collective, I Don't Know This World Without Don Cherry, Naxos, 1998 Sam Rivers, Inspiration, BMG/RCA Victor, 1999 Sam Rivers, Culmination, BMG/RCA Victor, 1999 Alan Silva, H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box, Eremite, 2003 Oliver Lake, Cloth, Passin' Thru, 2003 John Lindberg, Winter Birds, Between The Lines, 2005 Leslie Ritter, This Christmas Morning, Collective Works, 2005 Tim Berne Octet, Insomnia, Clean Feed, 2011 Julius Hemphill, The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, New World, 2021 Danielle Woerner, She Walks In Beauty, Parnassus, 1998 Jeff Siegel, Magical Spaces, Consolidated Artist Productions, 2005 Danielle Woerner, Voices of the Valley, Albany Music Distribution, 2006 Citations Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 423/4. ISBN 0-85112-939-0. Listing for Carroll, Baikida (E. J. Carroll) on Jazz.com (accessed November 23, 2014). Owsley, Dennis (2006). City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973. St. Louis: Reedy Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1933370040. Nelson, Nels (March 24, 1989). "A Life In Jazz Baikida Carroll & 'Betsey Brown' Are Both Difficult To Pigeonhole". Philly.com. Interstate General Media. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Astarita, Glenn (April 1, 2001). "Baikida Carroll: Marionettes On A High Wire (review)". allaboutjazz.com. All About Jazz. General references Ron Wynn, Baikida Carroll at Allmusic Official website Archived 2014-10-05 at the Wayback Machine