An accomplished, award-winning sales leader based in Illinois, Garth Baecker has held leadership roles with the United Church of Christ for many years, including a period as the board president of a 1,100-member congregation and as a pulpit supply minister and negotiator for churches in conflict. Garth Baecker is also a passionate enthusiast of jazz music. In 2007, he blended his interests by co-creating The Baecker Jazz Worship Service.
Initially organized as a 50th-anniversary celebration of his denomination, The Baecker Jazz Worship Service performed a show under the theme of “This Little Light of Mine.” The performance featured a range of jazz influences, from New Orleans strut to brass-based chorale. Garth Baecker organized another performance at the First Congregational Church in Moline, which received a standing ovation.
Following the performances, Garth Baecker brought his musicians to the Chicago Recording Company to record a studio version of the piece, which was released in early 2008 following two recording sessions. Over the years, the recording has sold physical copies and digital downloads to a global audience. The record is available at major online retailers, including Amazon, as well as streaming platforms such as Spotify.
The record was made possible with the help of experienced jazz artist and composer John Cooper, a former director of jazz studies at Western Illinois University. Garth Baecker previously studied English at Western Illinois University, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts and master of arts.
Garth Baecker first reached out to Cooper ahead of the 50th anniversary performance. While Baecker brought several of the foundational concepts, Cooper also provided valuable insight, such as using jazz music during all of the traditional service movements: Prelude, Gospel, Hymn, Offertory, Communion, and a closing piece. Baecker and his supporters were excited about the idea and suggested a reharmonization of the traditional Doxology to round out the performance.
Cooper focused the performance around the drummer, though the piece makes room for extended solos by the trumpeter, trombonist, and bassist. David Taylor drummed during the original performance, while Roger Ingram and Art Davis handled trumpet duties.
The successful debut performance and subsequent recording led to Garth Baecker taking The Baecker Jazz Worship Service on the road for a tour of numerous venues throughout the Midwest. The tour was no small feat, with the entire record performed live by a 17-member jazz orchestra.
In 2009, the Milligan College Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Rick Simerly, performed a spring concert at the Seeger Memorial Chapel on the campus of Milligan University, a Christian liberal arts university in Northeast Tennessee. The performance included a seven-movement rendition of “The Baecker Jazz Worship Service,” based on a 2007 recording of a John Cooper Orchestra performance of the piece. Two of the movements featured guest vocalist Loretta Bowers. The performance was open to the public at no cost.
Mr. Baecker has involved himself in the arts in other ways. In addition to his career in insurance and mutual fund sales, he has served the student body at the Roosevelt Military Academy in Aledo, Illinois, as an instructor of English and journalism. He also supported students as an advisor for the school newspaper and the academy’s English as a Second Language program.