Joey Baron


Bernard Joseph Baron is an American drummer best-known for working in avant-garde jazz with Bill Frisell and John Zorn.

Music career

Baron, who is of Jewish heritage, was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond, Virginia. When he was nine, he taught himself how to play the drums. As a teenager, he played in rock bands and dixieland jazz groups and was given his first gig opportunity at the age of 13 when pianist BJ Doyle's regular drummer took ill and she knew he was a keeper after just minutes. After high school, he spent a year at the Berklee College of Music. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s and embarked on a professional career, playing with Carmen McRae and Al Jarreau. He worked as a freelance drummer and session musician with Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Hampton Hawes.
In 1982 he moved to New York City and joined guitarist Bill Frisell, with whom he would play often throughout his career. He also played in groups with Red Rodney, Fred Hersch, Enrico Pieranunzi, and Marc Johnson. Starting in the late 1980s, he became a bigger part of the avant-garde jazz scene when he played regularly at the Knitting Factory, recorded with singer Laurie Anderson, and began a long association with John Zorn. For several years he participated in Zorn's projects Naked City and Masada.
Baron contributed to David Bowie's Outside. Bowie would later praise Baron, stating: "Metronomes shake in fear, he's so steady."

Discography

As leader/co-leader

  • Tongue in Groove
  • RAIsedpleasuredot
  • Crackshot
  • Down Home
  • We'll Soon Find Out
  • Killer Joey
  • Beyond
  • Venice, Dal Vivo
  • Just Listen
  • Live! with Irène Schweizer
  • Now You Hear Me with Robyn Schulkowsky

    As sideman

With John Abercrombie
  • Cat 'n' Mouse
  • Class Trip
  • The Third Quartet
  • Wait Till You See Her
  • Within a Song
  • 39 Steps
  • Up and Coming
With the Toshiko Akiyoshi
  • Tuttie Flutie
  • European Memoirs
  • Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio
With Laurie Anderson
  • Strange Angels
  • Bright Red
  • The Ugly One with the Jewels
  • Life on a String
With Tim Berne
With David Bowie
  • Outside
With Jakob Bro
  • Streams
With Uri Caine
  • Urlicht / Primal Light
With James Carter
  • Chasin' the Gypsy
  • Heaven on Earth
With Anthony Coleman
  • Sephardic Tinge
With Dave Douglas
  • In Our Lifetime
  • Stargazer
  • Soul on Soul
  • Freak In
With Eliane Elias
  • Something for You: Eliane Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans
With Mark Feldman
  • Secrets
With Bill Frisell
  • Lookout for Hope
  • Before We Were Born
  • Is That You?
  • Where in the World?
  • Have a Little Faith
  • This Land
  • Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton
  • The High Sign/One Week
  • Live
With Fred Frith
  • Allies
With Richard Galliano
  • Laurita
With Jim Hall
  • These Rooms
  • Hemispheres with Bill Frisell
  • Conversations
With Fred Hersch
  • Horizons
  • Sarabande
  • The French Collection
  • The Surrounding Green
With Haino Keiji
  • An Unclear Trial: More Than This
With Marc Johnson
  • The Sound of Summer Running
  • Shades of Jade
  • Swept Away
;With Lee Konitz
  • Sound of Surprise
With Steve Kuhn
  • Remembering Tomorrow
  • Mostly Coltrane
  • Wisteria with Steve Swallow
With Joe Lovano
  • Flights of Fancy: Trio Fascination Edition Two
  • Sound Prints
With Pat Martino
  • The Return
With Carmen McRae
With Mark Murphy
  • Beauty and the Beast
With Gary Peacock
  • Now This
  • Tangents
With Enrico Pieranunzi
  • New Lands
  • Deep Down
  • Play Morricone
  • Current Conditions
  • Play Morricone 2
  • Ballads
  • Live in Japan
  • As Never Before
With Hank Roberts
  • Black Pastels
With Herb Robertson
With John Scofield
  • Grace Under Pressure
With Julian Siegel
  • Live at the Vortex
With John Taylor
  • Rosslyn
With Toots Thielemans
With Roseanna Vitro
  • The Time of My Life: Roseanna Vitro Sings the Songs of Steve Allen
With John Zorn
  • The Big Gundown
  • Spy vs Spy
  • Naked City with Naked City
  • Torture Garden with Naked City
  • Grand Guignol with Naked City
  • Heretic with Naked City
  • Leng Tch'e with Naked City
  • Radio with Naked City
  • Absinthe with Naked City
  • Masada: Alef with Masada
  • Masada: Beit with Masada
  • Masada: Gimel with Masada
  • Masada: Dalet with Masada
  • Masada: Hei with Masada
  • Masada: Vav with Masada
  • Filmworks III: 1990–1995
  • Masada: Zayin with Masada
  • Masada: Het with Masada
  • Masada: Tet with Masada
  • Masada: Yod with Masada
  • Filmworks IV: S&M + More
  • New Traditions in East Asian Bar Bands
  • The Circle Maker
  • Black Box with Naked City
  • Taboo & Exile
  • Live in Jerusalem 1994 with Masada
  • Live in Taipei 1995 with Masada
  • Live in Middelheim 1999 with Masada
  • Live in Sevilla 2000
  • The Gift
  • Live at Tonic 2001 with Masada
  • Naked City Live, Vol. 1: The Knitting Factory 1989 with Naked City
  • First Live 1993 with Masada
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 4 with Electric Masada
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 7 with Masada
  • Naked City: The Complete Studio Recordings with Naked City
  • Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness with Electric Masada
  • 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11 with Bar Kokhba Sextet
  • Sanhedrin 1994–1997 with Masada
  • Moonchild: Songs Without Words with Moonchild Trio
  • Astronome with Moonchild Trio
  • Six Litanies for Heliogabalus with Moonchild Trio
  • The Crucible with Moonchild Trio
  • Lucifer: Book of Angels Volume 10 with Bar Kokhba Sextet
  • The Dreamers with The Dreamers
  • Stolas: Book of Angels Volume 12 with Masada Quintet
  • O'o with The Dreamers
  • Ipsissimus with Moonchild
  • Ipos: Book of Angels Volume 14 with The Dreamers
  • Nova Express with the Nova Quartet
  • At the Gates of Paradise
  • A Dreamers Christmas with The Dreamers
  • Templars: In Sacred Blood with Moonchild
  • A Vision in Blakelight
  • The Concealed
  • Dreamachines with the Nova Quartet
  • The Last Judgement with Moonchild
  • On Leaves of Grass with the Nova Quartet
  • Pellucidar: A Dreamers Fantabula with The Dreamers
  • Andras: The Book Of Angels Volume 28 with Nova Express Quintet

    Filmography

  • Step Across the Border with Fred Frith
  • Masada Live at Tonic 1999 with Masada
  • A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn with Masada
  • ''Bill Frisell: A Portrait''