Chase Baird

David "Chase" Baird (born March 18, 1988) is an American saxophonist, guitarist, wind synthesist, composer, songwriter and music educator.

Biography Early life Baird was born in Seattle, Washington. He was introduced to music at an early age by his father, a trumpet player who played in rock bands and doubled on an eclectic collection of instruments, including saxophone, flute, Rhodes, synthesizer and percussion.

2006–present Baird attended Diablo Valley College for one year, primarily studying psychology. He later transferred to California State University, Long Beach to study music, notably with saxophonists Eric Marienthal, Sal Lozano and Jay Mason. He left after two years and eventually relocated to New York City, where he enrolled at The Juilliard School (studying with Ron Blake, Steve Wilson, Joe Temperley, Frank Kimbrough, Kendall Briggs and others) and completed an undergraduate degree.

Baird recorded and released his debut album, Crosscurrent, in 2010, featuring pianist Julian Waterfall Pollack, guitarist John Storie, bassist Christopher Tordini, drummer Steve Lyman and percussionist James Yoshizawa.

Baird joined drummer Antonio Sánchez's group Migration in 2018, recording both saxophone and Electronic Wind Instrument on the group's critically acclaimed album Lines in the Sand. He also co-led the band Venture, alongside drummer Mike Clark, vibraphonist Mark Sherman and electric bassist Felix Pastorius. The group released their first album Life Cycle on Ropeadope Records. He collaborated with drummer Steve Lyman to compose, record and produce the electro-acoustic composition Pulsar, later released in July 2020.

He has performed or recorded with artists Chaka Khan, Bill Champlin, Matthew Morrison, Jakob Dylan, Diana Degarmo, Chloe Agnew and Morgan James. He has also worked with jazz and fusion artists including Chris Botti, Mike Stern, Antonio Farao, Aaron Parks, Thana Alexa, Dennis Chambers, Gary Grainger, Gene Perla, Dan Tepfer, Thomas Dawson, Victor Wooten, Keith Carlock, Circuit Kisser and the Mingus Big Band, among others.

Chase additionally plays guitar, acoustic and electric, with his sister Christine Baird and her band Rocky Mountain Soul.

Selected discography

As leader Pulsar (Outside In Music, 2020) with Steve Lyman, J3PO (Julian Pollack) & Dan Chmielinski A Life Between (Soundsabound Records, 2019) with Brad Mehldau, Nir Felder, Dan Chmielinski and Antonio Sanchez Crosscurrent (Junebeat Records, 2010) with Julian Pollack, John Storie, Chris Tordini, Steve Lyman and James Yoshizawa Language of Sound and Spirit – Joshua Maxey (Independent, 2012) Hunter – Morgan James (Epic, 2014) Celebration of Soul – Joshua Maxey (Independent, 2015)