Mike Baggetta (born 1979) is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Early life

Baggetta was raised in

Agawam, Massachusetts Agawam is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,692 at the 2020 census. Agawam sits on the western side of the Connecticut River, directly across from Springfield. It is considered part of the Springfie ...

. He took up guitar at an early age and was inspired to explore

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

's cover of "

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a jazz instrumental composed by Charles Mingus, originally recorded by his sextet in 1959 and released on his album '' Mingus Ah Um''. One of Mingus's best-known compositions, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" became a jazz sta ...

" on his album ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

''. This led to albums by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

which expanded Baggetta's sense of musical adventure. Baggetta attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

where he received his Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies. After graduation, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and embarked on a music career. After fifteen years in NYC, Baggetta relocated to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Career

Baggetta was a finalist in the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship competition at the East Coast Jazz Festival and was one of seven international guitarists to compete in the

Gibson Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to: Business * Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer * Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Greetings, ...

Jazz Guitar Competition at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. In Knoxville, Baggetta began performing completely instrumental improvisational interpretations of

Patsy Cline Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully Cross ...

songs. He also performed the music of

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

. Baggetta has performed with

Jerome Harris Jerome Harris (born April 5, 1953) is an American jazz musician specializing in electric and acoustic bass guitar, electric guitar, voice, and occasionally lap steel and small percussion. He came to prominence in 1978 playing bass guitar and g ...

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

Darcy James Argue Darcy James Argue (born May 23, 1975) is a jazz composer and bandleader known for his work with his 18-piece ensemble, Secret Society. Biography Argue was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He studied at McGill University in Montreal from 1993 ...

, Satoshi Takeishi,

Donny McCaslin Donald Paul McCaslin (born August 11, 1966) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, ''Blackstar (album), Blacksta ...

Dominique Eade Dominique Frances Eade (born June 16, 1958) is an American jazz singer and composer. She has taught at the New England Conservatory. Education She attended Vassar College and the Berklee College of Music before finishing her degree at New Engla ...

, and

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

. As a young guitarist, Baggetta has played along with records by

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

bassist

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

as well as records featuring drummer

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

. A conversation with Chris Schlarb of Big Ego Studios led to a discussion about the

album '' Cloud About Mercury'' which Baggetta admired. Baggetta learned that the artists on the album hadn't worked together previously and were simply cold-called by Torn so he jokingly suggested Schlarb call Watt and Keltner to join him for an album. Schlarb made some calls and soon enough Baggetta was joined by Watt and Keltner to record his ''Wall of Flowers'' album which was released in March 2019. Following the release of the album, Baggetta and Watt embarked on a ten date March tour with

Stephen Hodges Stephen Hodges (born February 12, 1952) is an American percussionist and composer. He is best known for his work with Mavis Staples, Tom Waits, Mike Watt, T Bone Burnett, Rick Holmstrom, and film director David Lynch. Discography *Tom Waits � ...

substituting for Keltner. Baggetta, Watt and Hodges call themselves

mssv mssv (''Main Steam Stop Valve'') is an American band featuring Mike Baggetta, Mike Watt and Stephen Hodges. History Baggetta and Watt recorded '' Wall of Flowers'' with drummer Jim Keltner but after releasing it Keltner was averse to travel s ...

and their debut live album, ''Live Flowers'', was released December 1, 2019. The band's their first studio album was released in 2020 with the title ''Main Steam Stop Valve''. Baggetta and Watt are launching a new tour as MSSV in March of 2025 in support of their latest album.

Discography

Solo

* ''There, Just as You Look for It'' with Kris Tiner (pfMentum, 2005) * ''And Begin Again'' with Kris Tiner (Evander, 2007) * ''Small Spaces'' (Fresh Sound, 2008) * ''Canto'' (Mabnotes Music, 2010) * ''Source Material'' (Fresh Sound, 2010) * ''Bridges'' with Kris Tiner(Mabnotes Music, 2011) * ''Thieves and Secrets'' (Fresh Sound, 2013) * ''Spectre'' (2016) * '' Wall of Flowers'' (Big Ego, 2019)

With mssv

* ''Live Flowers'' (2019) * ''Main Steam Stop Valve'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baggetta, Mike 1979 births Living people Avant-garde jazz musicians American male composers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American composers American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians