“Garrett is one of the best prepared and most serious young bassists I know. I’m always happy to have him play the bass parts in my band so I get to hear how everything is working from the outside. I’m never disappointed when Garrett is playing in my role.” – Chuck Israels
Garrett Baxter is one of the many young and exciting musicians in Portland’s jazz scene. Garrett earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies: Bass Performance in 2020. In June of 2020, he was chosen for the Outstanding Undergraduate Jazz Performer award. In addition to performing as a bandleader, he has also performed in bands led by Idit Shner, Roger Woods, Joe Manis, Tony Glausi, Dan Gaynor, Paul Krueger, Steve Owen, Toby Koenigsburg, Torrey Newhart, Josh Hettwer, and Mike Denny. He also had the opportunity of performing in the Javon Jackson Quartet at the Jazz Station. Through his time at the University of Oregon, Garrett has shared the stage and taken lessons with some of his musical inspirations, including Linda May Han Oh, Ben Wendel, Walter Smith III, Kendrick Scott, Terrell Stafford, Josh Nelson, Jay Thomas, and more. At UO, he was a member of the Oregon Jazz Ensemble, UO’s premier large jazz ensemble, as well the JazzArts Oregon Combo, UO’s top small ensemble. He was also a member of the UO Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017, Garrett began studying privately in Portland with Chuck Israels, great bassist best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1961 through 1966. While at UO, he studied both classical and jazz bass with Tyler Abbott, jazz with Idit Shner, and composition with Steve Owen and Paul Krueger.
