James Baker
Producer, Host: Classics a la CarteJames first introduced himself to KPAC listeners at midnight on April 8, 1993, presenting Dvorak's 7th Symphony played by the Cleveland Orchestra. Soon after, he became the regular overnight announcer on KPAC.
If pressed to describe himself, James will say he is a musician who hosted classical music. For over 40 years, he has worked as a professional French horn player, holding posts in the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, and Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the oldest orchestra in Mexico.
James also is an avid marathoner. Look for him running the streets of San Antonio with his three rescued border collies.
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TPR's James Baker looks at some Hollywood films where the setting helps define the sound of the film, from dialogue to music. -
James Baker traces the history of the rumba and other Latin rhythms in early Broadway musicals on this episode of "Momentos Musicales" our special series for Hispanic Heritage Month on KPAC 88.3 FM. -
In this episode of Momentos Musicales, KPAC's James Baker listens to the sound of early religious music composed in the New World, and jumps ahead to the late 20th Century, when Vatican II ushered in a wave of Mass settings and more, in Spanish and Portuguese. -
Two Natalias bring new sounds to the Great Americas Songbook. -
If one wanted to draw a neatly pruned tree showing the progression of popular music in Brazil, it might begin with choro, transitioning over time into an array of dances, distinctly Brazilian. In this episode of "Momentos Musicales" KPAC's James Baker listens to the sound of the choro through the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos. -
If there were to be a "Great Americas Songbook," surely the music of João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim would be at the top of the list. KPAC's James Baker listens back in this Momentos Musicales segment to the sounds that swept America in the early 1960s. -
As part of our Momentos Musicales series, KPAC's James Baker looks at the way the Good Neighbor policy of the United States helped foster musical development in the 1940s that introduced Latin American music to the U.S. -
Listening to music from and inspired by Latin America as heard in diverse settings as Disney films, or John Huston's "Prizzi's Honor." -
KPAC's James Baker shares songs from south of the Rio Grande that would make great additions to our "Great Americas Songbook."
