Tom Baker Quartet plays at The Burlingame Space

The Tom Baker Quartet Returns to Portland!

The Seattle-based Tom Baker Quartet (TBQ) began performing together in 2004, crafting unique sonic landscapes by combining complex, improvisational textures with unpredictable compositional structures. The expirimental-jazz-post-rock ensemble is quitarist Tom Baker, drummer Greg Campbell, clarinettist Jesse Canterbury, and bassist Brian Cobb. They have performed extensively for seven years, cultimating in two albums: Look What I Found (2007) and Save (2009).  Interrupted by geographical relocations, the band began a decade-long hiatus in 2011. In 2022 they came together to resume their work, reassured by their unmitigated joy of making music together, and inspired by the tunes emerging from their reuniting. In 2023 TBQ released its third album, Begin Again, which has garnered much attention and praise. The album won the Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for Northwest Recording of the Year (2023).

Earshot Jazz writers said this about the new album: 

"Tom Baker Quartet’s Begin Again may have arrived with mere weeks left in the year, but it made an impact. True to its title, it plays like a reintroduction to Baker’s penchant for bridging traditional jazz structures with fearless, disruptive improvisation. Humor and heart flood these compositions, and the quartet behind them — featuring Tom Baker (guitar), Jesse Canterbury (clarinet), Greg Campbell (drums), and Brian Cobb (bass)  — lean into their performances with an unpredictability that, a decade after their last album, still manages to exceed expectations."

Returning to Portland for the first time in over a decade, TBQ is excited to share this new music with our neighbors to the south, and look forward to coming back more often.