When I was 14, I attended the LA Music Academy's annual Summer Program. I was living in Arizona at the time, and the idea of going to LA to play guitar for a week, especially at that age, was an incredible and exciting idea. I had been playing for years at that point, but never really had the chance to learn from instructors that were not only exceptionally proficient on their respective instruments, but also had years of industry experience to pull from. After the week-long program ended, I was offered the opportunity to attend the LA Music Academy as a full-time student on scholarship, something that was beyond anything I could have expected. After discussing it with my mother, we decided that it was an opportunity that would be foolish to pass up, and so, for the next two years I was a student and ensemble player at the LA Music Academy while also being home schooled.

I would say that, although I learned so many valuable lessons during my time at the LA Music Academy, the most important lesson that I have taken with me to this day is to be studious and consistently ask questions of any musical situation that I am in. During my time at the LA Music Academy, I practiced upwards of 12 hours a day, something that really helped cultivate this mindset.

I have definitely become much less of a purist in terms of music since leaving the LA Music Academy. When I was at the LA Music Academy, I was an intensely puristic musician in terms of jazz, which, looking back now, was the necessary thing to do in order to fully absorb the language of the idiom, but now my concerns are not about whether something is "anything," but more importantly that it is good and moves me.

I got a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music right after I finished the LA Music Academy, which afforded me the exposure and prevalence at the college to get in touch with some of the best instructors that the college has to offer. One of these is a guitarist by the name of David Tronzo, someone who, in my opinion, is probably one of the most underrated guitarists alive. He is utterly amazing. Anyway, I made a record in my third year at Berklee called Aphotic (available at bryanbakermusic.com), which David gave to jazz critic/writer Bill Milkowski. Bill is close friends with Mike Mainieri, the leader of Steps Ahead. And the rest is history. Its one of the classic "somebody you know, who knows somebody, who knows somebody" things.

Playing with Steps Ahead is awesome. I mean, that's basically it. It's an incredible gig where I get to play with stellar musicians for thousands of people who really dig the music. It's killing.

I am currently programing, playing on, engineering, and recording my next record, entitled Solace Like Statuary for a major label. Check myspace.com/bryanbakermusic for tour dates and updates about the release of this record.