Interview with New York Jazz Musician & Mentor Matt Baker
We sat down with New York jazz pianist, entrepreneur, and coach Matt Baker to talk about the New York jazz world, his passions, his mentorship program, his own mentors, and the importance of keeping creativity alive at every stage of life.
Matt is a world-renowned jazz musician heralded as “the Australian piano whiz” by The New York Times and described by British music executive Tony Hall as “one of the most respected and versatile pianist-composers yet”. Matt leads The Matt Baker Trio in New York and performs regularly at jazz venues including Birdland and The Blue Note. He tours both within the USA and internationally and has released 6 albums to date.
BAHS Founder Anita Rogers has had the pleasure of working with Matt as her coach for over a year now. Her goals were to step into the jazz world, vocally, master the repertoire and style, learn how to work with an accompanist and band, and then put on a concert. This goal was realized last May when Anita performed with the Matt Baker trio at Anita Rogers Gallery in New York City. We are thrilled to announce that Anita will be doing a second jazz concert with Matt at the gallery on December 16. Details here.
Thanks to a gentle push from Anita, Matt is now carving out space in his schedule to individually mentor a small number of people seeking a creative escape, whether through learning or returning to an instrument, stepping into New York’s jazz world, singing for pleasure, or even planning and preparing for a live performance at a major NYC venue.
After the interview, we are pleased to share Matt Baker’s new mentorship program, The Encore Experience – An Artist’s Renaissance. Click here to learn more about Matt’s mentorship program.
Matt, can you please tell us a little about yourself?
I’m from Australia but I moved to New York about 15 years ago when I decided I had to leave Australia because I was plateauing, artistically. I just didn’t have the artistic fulfillment that I really wanted. I had been to New York several times before moving here, so I knew that it was all over here – so I applied for a visa, I got it eventually, and here we are 15 years later.
I’m a jazz musician first and foremost, but I am also a coach, entrepreneur, and photographer. As a jazz musician, I perform on the piano at gigs, jazz clubs, festivals, concerts in New York and around the world. I’m a portrait photographer as well – my shots inside NYC jazz clubs will be on view at Anita Rogers Gallery this December.
I’m also an entrepreneur, I run an online course for singers that is not singing lessons, but it teaches singers to gain the confidence to get up on stage and put on a show. It’s everything that you need to know to be a great band leader, taught by me and three of the world’s top live performing vocalists. It’s a wonderful course for vocalists.
The fourth thing I do is mentor. I have this desire in my life, now at my age to give back and not just do things that benefit and fulfill me. I have this real big desire to give back and with a bit of a push from Anita, I’ve decided to open up time and space in my life to coach and mentor a select group people who wish to have art and music and joy back into their lives, that they might have had at some point earlier in their lives but have lost. The way that I can do that is by bringing someone into my life, by either taking them around gigs and concerts and showing them the world that I live in, letting them experience the music and the art that I experience, helping them with their own music and art – whether it’s teaching them piano, helping them sing, assisting them in putting on a concert, helping them fulfill those dreams and desires and aspirations they might have had since they were a child even and for a long time. It’s a flexible program – it’s whatever works for them and whatever their needs may be – but the goal is to bring back music and joy into their lives.
Who is your mentorship program right for?
It’s for anyone yearning for creativity and artistic connection. It’s for those who are constantly tied up with their job, homework, family and miss having something like music in their world. It’s for those who learned an instrument when they were younger, regret giving it up, and would kill to have even a piece of it back. It’s for those who aspire to sing for friends at a great New York City venue but don’t know how to achieve that. It’s for anyone who is missing something in their soul, artistically, and would like to find it again.
Click here to learn more about Matt’s mentorship program.
Did you have any mentors in the music world in particular that shaped your approach to your music and your style?
Absolutely. My main mentor is my teacher who I still learn from today, Taylor Eigsti. It’s been 16 years of lessons with him. He is a fantastic, phenomenal world class pianist. He tours the world continuously, has won two Grammy awards for his albums, and he not only teaches me piano and jazz specifically, but sometimes in our lessons or phone calls, we talk about business, life, the career, and the world of music. So he has held my hand for the last 16 years, but I’ve also had many, many teachers that haven’t been as regular as him in my life but were also formative, including greats like Benny Green, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller. I was fortunate enough that one of my first teachers was Ella Fitzgerald’s accompanist of 30 years – the great Paul Smith. He taught me a lot about playing for singers and accompanying music. So yes, I’ve had mentors in music and business for my entire life.
You mentioned how you moved from Australia to New York and understanding that New York was the place to be for your career. How would you describe the New York jazz community? Are there any jazz clubs in particular you’d recommend to the readers?
Absolutely. Well, New York is just a mecca for art and music. Whether it’s jazz music or cabaret or musical theater, Broadway, whether it’s art, painting, sculpture, drawing installations, photography – it’s all here. So, it’s just this melting pot of culture and creation and art in this city. And everyone wants to be here, so it’s the people that make it, really. Besides the music or the art and photographs you see in the galleries…it’s the people. It’s the energy of the people that really makes it so everyone aspires to be here. I find it’s like everyone is here because they’re on some sort of creative mission or have some sort of purpose or goal in the arts. It’s an incredible energy.
Specifically for jazz clubs, there’s so many, and that’s another great thing about why I’m here is because there’s so much opportunity. Yes, there’s more competition but there’s so much opportunity in the sense of venues. Some of my favorites are Mezzrow Jazz Club, Birdland Jazz Club, and then other locations that aren’t necessarily jazz clubs, but they’re venues that have jazz on. I play often at Bemelman’s Bar in the Carlyle Hotel. And the Wallace Hotel Lounge, the Triad Theatre, Chelsea Table & Stage. But my favorite is definitely the Birdland Jazz Club in Midtown.
At what age did you first get into music? When did you know that this was such an important aspect of your creative soul?
Well, I got into music at the age of five, I started learning classical piano back home in Australia. At 12, I changed to jazz. And in my late teens, I started to discover a lot of the jazz greats – on whatever instrument. That included people like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae….all the great singers. And besides my journey with the piano, I really fell in love with vocal jazz. I love the lyrics, the story, and I started to truly love accompanying singers and with my skills as a piano player, I found that I loved creating that bed of support, music, and sound underneath a singer. So in my early 20s, besides pushing a career as a solo artist and as a pianist in a trio, I started to frequently accompany singers. And to extend the answer to the question of how I got where I am today – when I would tour in my late 20s, I would do workshops at jazz clubs for anyone, but most of the people who would come to those workshops were singers who had questions about leading bands and directing bands and – not conducting – but really how to lead their band onstage. So a lot of my work came from those workshops and came from singers wanting help from me. And I started to become this piano player who really started to specialize in coaching singers, not in their voices and the singing, but in helping them work with bands and accompanists and lead their bands and be a great front person and put on exceptional shows. That is where my online course grew out of – it came from years of workshops and helping singers, which I still love to do today.
You’ve toured in the U.S. and internationally, you’ve recorded multiple albums, you’ve won many awards. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
That’s a great question. I was a finalist for three years in a row in Switzerland, in the Montreux International Solo Jazz piano competition. That’s something that I’m really proud of. I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve worked 15 years in New York City. Like, that’s a really cool thing, and I have achieved most of my goals here – and now I’m constantly making new goals the older I get.
I’m also really proud of the online video course I created. It was filmed a couple of years ago and took a year to edit and create on the back end. And now it’s been selling for a couple of years and doing really well. So that’s a huge achievement to create something out of nothing and do that, and I think the last thing I’ll say is I’m ultra-proud and grateful for the community of friends I have around me. My community is huge now – it’s just ever-expanding and it’s a beautiful community of people. Most of them are artistic or musical in some respect, and they’re truly a great support.
What would your best advice be for a person maybe who doesn’t have a creative job or regular creative outlet and is looking to reconnect with that part of themselves? What would you tell them?
Well, at the minimum they need to connect with a friend in that world that can invite them to tag along to events with them, and then start enjoying the things that this friend enjoys. Maybe that snowballs into taking lessons or participating at events, playing their instrument at events. That would be ideal. But even better than a friend is to get themselves a good mentor or a coach. Someone who can say, “Okay, what is it that you want to do? What are your dreams, goals, and aspirations? Now let me actually work out methodically how I can make that happen for you. That’s something I’m really proud to offer to the community.
What can people expect from your jazz concert at Anita Rogers Gallery on December 16?
Well, a really wonderful evening of beautiful, great American songbook, and I’m going to just use the word jazz. Anita is really diving into the world of jazz with this concert. It’s with a really wonderful band in addition to myself and Anita – we have Tony DePaolis on double bass and Aaron Seeber on the drums. It’s the same band that we had last May and Anita is going to be presenting a really beautiful show of some fast ones, some ballads, some classics, some newer ones, of a beautiful jazz repertoire, which is going to be a fantastic concert.
The Encore Experience – An Artist’s Renaissance
Rediscover the part of yourself that never stopped dreaming. A month of private artistic mentorship and musical immersion with acclaimed jazz pianist Matt Baker, designed to reawaken your creative spirit, connect you to world-class artistry, and rekindle the joy of music.
-Each program lasts a month, and in that time mentees will have:
-Ongoing access to Matt throughout the month for tailored coaching and support, including via phone and email
-Invitations to attend concerts, open mics, rehearsals, recording sessions, whatever is available in your area of interest
-Lessons on your instrument, if you choose
-Most of all, a fun-filled month full of music, art, escape, fulfilling dreams, self-expression, saying goodbye to old regrets, and filling your soul with what you value most, and what makes your heart sing
Monthly sessions start in early December 2025 and run each month through 2026.
This experience is open to people of all ages and abilities. Each program is completely custom, and can be extended as needed. For example, over a period of 1-3 months, Matt can help mentees create their own show by learning repertoire, rehearsing the billing, choosing the venue, choosing a date, promoting it, selling it, and finally putting on a concert.
If you are unsure if this is a good fit for you or would like to learn more before committing, email matt@mattbaker.com.au to chat with Matt about your particular goals.