Mike Baggetta

Mike Baggetta (born 1979[2]) is an American guitarist and songwriter.

Mike Baggetta
Born1979
GenresJazz, free jazz[1] rock, experimental
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active2003–present
LabelsBig Ego, Fresh Sound
Websitemikebaggetta.com

Early life

Baggetta was raised in Agawam, Massachusetts.[3] He took up guitar at an early age and was inspired to explore Charles Mingus by Jeff Beck's cover of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on his album Wired.[3] This led to albums by Miles Davis and John Coltrane which expanded Baggetta's sense of musical adventure.[2]

Baggetta attended Rutgers University[2] where he received his Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies.[4] After graduation, he moved to New York City and embarked on a music career.[2] After fifteen years in NYC, Baggetta relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee.[3]

Career

Baggetta was a finalist in the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship competition at the East Coast Jazz Festival and was one of seven international guitarists to compete in the Gibson Jazz Guitar Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival.[4]

In Knoxville, Baggetta began performing completely instrumental improvisational interpretations of Patsy Cline songs.[5] He also performed the music of Ornette Coleman.[5]

Baggetta has performed with Jerome Harris,[3] David Torn,[2] Darcy James Argue,[2] Satoshi Takeishi,[2] Donny McCaslin,[6] Dominique Eade,[6] and Nels Cline.

As a young guitarist, Baggetta has played along with records by Minutemen bassist Mike Watt as well as records featuring drummer Jim Keltner.[1] A conversation with Chris Schlarb of Big Ego Studios led to a discussion about the David Torn album Cloud About Mercury which Baggetta admired.[1] Baggetta learned that the artists on the album hadn't worked together previously and were simply cold-called by Torn so he jokingly suggested Schlarb call Watt and Keltner to join him for an album.[1] Schlarb made some calls[1] and soon enough Baggetta was joined by Watt and Keltner to record his Wall of Flowers album which was released in March 2019.[7][8] Following the release of the album, Baggetta and Watt embarked on a ten date March tour with Stephen Hodges substituting for Keltner.[7] Baggetta, Watt and Hodges call themselves mssv and their debut live album, Live Flowers, was released December 1, 2019.[9] The band's their first studio album was released in 2020 with the title Main Steam Stop Valve.[10]

Discography

Solo
  • There, Just as You Look for It with Kris Tiner (pfMentum, 2005)
  • And Begin Again with Kris Tiner (Evander, 2007)
  • Small Spaces (Fresh Sound, 2008)[11]
  • Canto (Mabnotes Music, 2010)
  • Source Material (Fresh Sound, 2010)[12]
  • Bridges with Kris Tiner(Mabnotes Music, 2011)
  • Thieves and Secrets (Fresh Sound, 2013)[13]
  • Spectre (2016)[14]
  • Wall of Flowers (Big Ego, 2019)[7]

With mssv
  • Live Flowers (2019)[9]
  • Main Steam Stop Valve (2020)

References
  1. Wildsmith, Steve (April 24, 2019). "Guitarist Mike Baggetta finds impromptu collaboration grows good 'Flowers'". The Daily Times. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  2. Bambarger, Bradley (December 8, 2017). "Sound It Out: "20 Questions" #13 — Mike Baggetta". Sound It Out. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  3. Wildsmith, Steve (September 27, 2017). "For guitarist Mike Baggetta, music's unpredictable adventure keeps him playing". The Daily Times. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  4. "Take Five With Mike Baggetta". All About Jazz. December 16, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. Everett, Matthew (November 30, 2016). "New Knoxville Transplant Mike Baggetta Takes on the Challenge of Ornette Coleman". Knoxville Mercury. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  6. "Master Classes with Guitarist and Composer Mike Baggetta". University of North Carolina at Asheville. February 15, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  7. Maiuri, Ken (March 3, 2019). "Ken Maiuri's Clubland: Guitarist Mike Baggetta records and debuts a new album". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  8. "Wall Of Flowers by Mike Baggetta". Bandcamp. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  9. "JT Track Premiere: "The Pink Room" by mssv (Mike Baggetta, Stephen Hodges, Mike Watt)". JazzTimes. November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  10. Hatfield, Amanda (October 5, 2020). "Big Ears streaming sets from Mike Watt, Marc Ribot, Lonnie Holley & more". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  11. Lindsay, Bruce (August 6, 2009). "Mike Baggetta Quartet: Small Spaces". All About Jazz. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  12. "Mike Baggetta". Fresh Sound New Talent. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  13. "Jazz Listings for Dec. 20-26". The New York Times. December 19, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  14. "Mike Baggetta: Spectre". All About Jazz. July 24, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
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