CD review: Chase Baird, 'Crosscurrent'
-David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle (September 2010)
"Chase Baird is another young jazz player who cut his teeth in the Bay Area and is emerging as an especially promising saxophonist and composer, as evidenced by his debut CD, "Crosscurrent." Baird's musical generosity is such that his recent CD release concert at the Jazz School was almost as much about music by pianist Julian Waterfall Pollack as it was about his own nine-cut disc of mostly original compositions, which, like the introspective "Lunessence" and blistering "Crosscurrent," show off not only Baird's dazzling mastery of the sax but also a thematic fascination with metaphysical exploration. Of the two standards on the album..."
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CD Review: Crosscurrent | Chase Baird
-Bruce Lindsay, All About Jazz (October 2010)
"Crosscurrent is 22 year-old tenor saxophonist/composer Chase Baird's debut as a leader. These are the basic facts, but they fail to convey anything meaningful about the music to be found here. Crosscurrent doesn't sound like a debut album: Baird's sax playing doesn't sound like it comes from a 22 year-old. This is a beautifully assured recording, full of lovely ensemble playing and creative solos from Baird—who attracted the attention and support of Michael Brecker when Baird was aged just 14—and his talented fellow musicians."
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Meet Saxophone Prodigy Chase Baird
-Alisha Self, The Park Record (August 2010)
"Chase Baird found out who the Beatles were during his junior year in high school. He didn't know what Nirvana sounded like until last January. While his knowledge of musical icons may seem unusual for a 22-year-old, he is purely a product of his environment. "I came to music from such an odd perspective," he says. "I was embarrassed about it at first, but I've had to own that." An accomplished jazz saxophonist, Baird recently released his debut CD, "Crosscurrent," with a group of other musicians. He currently lives in Park City and is scheduled to perform at the Park Silly Sunday Market on Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. Baird was born in Seattle and exposed to creative musicianship at an early age. His father was a trumpet player who dabbled in rock bands and owned an eclectic collection of instruments. "He was kind of the miscellaneous musician," he says. The family moved..."
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