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Joe Baiza (born January 11, 1952) is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Most of Baiza's music touches on a fusion of punk rock and jazz. Eugene Chadbourne cites Baiza as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu.

Career

Baiza is a founding member of the bands Saccharine Trust, Universal Congress Of, and The Mecolodiacs. He also performed guest guitar spots on several Minutemen tracks and played alongside Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski in the SST all-star jam band October Faction, recording two albums with them. Baiza was also part of the musical side project Nastassya Filippovna which featured Bob Lee (drums), Devin Sarno (bass) and Mike Watt (bass). He substituted for Nels Cline during Mike Watt's European and American tours behind his second solo album, Contemplating the Engine Room, in 1997 and 1998. Also in 1997, he and Cline played (sometimes together) in the band Solo Career with Lee (drums), Richard Derrick (bass), Walter Zooi (trumpet) and Gustavo Aguilar (percussion); other guitarists in that rotating ensemble included Mario Lalli, Woody Aplanalp and Ken Rosser. Currently, he is in the reunited Saccharine Trust as well as the improvisational unit Unknown Instructors with former Minutemen Mike Watt and George Hurley.

Artwork

Baiza is also an accomplished visual artist. In 1983 he illustrated the cover of the Minutemen's record Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat. The illustration depicts the faces of D. Boon and Mike Watt engaged in heated dialogue as they so often did as friends and musical collaborators.

In late 2013 The Cornelius Projects in San Pedro hosted The Mind of Joe Baiza – Paintings, Drawings, Photographs & Artifacts.

Discography

Saccharine Trust

• Paganicons (1981, SST)
• Surviving You, Always (1984, SST)
• Worldbroken (1985, SST)
• We Became Snakes (1986, SST)
• Past Lives (1989, SST)
• The Great One Is Dead (2001, Hazelwood)

Universal Congress Of

• Joe Baiza & The Universal Congress Of (1987, SST)
• This Is Mecolodics (1988, SST)
• Prosperous and Qualified (1988, SST)
• The Sad and Tragic Demise of Big Fine Hot Salty Black Wind (1991, Enemy)
• The Eleventh-Hour Shine-On (1992, Enemy)
• Sparkling Fresh (1998, Hazelwood)

Mecolodiacs

• Mecolodiacs (1994, Enemy Records)
• Glamjazz (1998, Hazelwood)

Puttanesca

• Puttanesca (2006, Catasonic Records)

Unknown Instructors

• The Way Things Work (2005, Smog Veil Records)
• The Master's Voice (2007, Smog Veil Records)
• Funland (2009, Smog Veil Records)

with Mike Watt

• Contemplating the Engine Room: Live in Long Beach ‘98 – Five Man Opera

Solo

• Prelude to Peace (2017, MINUS ZERO Recordings)
• Two Duos with Jason Kahn and Felix Gebhard (2018, Hangover Central Station)

Guest appearances

• What Makes a Man Start Fires? by Minutemen, songs "Beacon Sighted Through Fog" and "East Wind/Faith" (1983, SST)
• The Politics of Time by Minutemen, song "Tune For Wind God" (1984, New Alliance Records)
• Double Nickels on the Dime by Minutemen, song "Take 5, D." (1984, SST)
• Ball-Hog or Tugboat? by Mike Watt, songs "Drove Up From Pedro" and "Intense Song for Madonna to Sing" (1995, Columbia Records)
• Our Band Could Be Your Life: A Tribute to D Boon and the Minutemen, song "9:30 May 2" (1996, Little Brother Records)
• 1979 by The Reactionaries, song "Innuendo" (2010, Water Under The Bridge Records)
• MOOF by Double Naught Spy Car, song "Hairsuit" (2016)

References

1. Rate Your Music, Born January 1952, CA
2. California Births, 1905 – 1995, Joe Eugene Baiza
3. Chadbourne, Eugene. "Joe Baiza: Biography". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
4. Robbins, Ira; Sprague, David. "Saccharine Trust". Trouser Press. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
5. Robbins, Ira; Sprague, David. "Universal Congress Of". Trouser Press. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
6. Watt, Mike. "mike watt and the black gang crew". Hoot Page. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
7. Breihan, Tom (March 25, 2009). "Mike Watt Drops Album, Tours, Writes Opera". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
8. Gleason, Mat (July 3, 2017). "JOE BAIZA – Modern Art Blitz episode #78". Modern Art Blitz. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
9. ^ Azerrad, Michael (2002). Our Band Could Be Your Life. Back Bay Books. p. 81. ISBN 978-0316787536.
10. "The Mind of Joe Baiza – Paintings, Drawings, Photographs & Artifacts". Cornelius Projects. October 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
11. Watt, Mike (November 24, 2017). "happy #RecordStoreDay good people!". Facebook. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
12. "Prelude to Peace". Bandcamp. August 23, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
13. "Two Duos". Bandcamp. November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
14. "Hairsuit (with Joe Baiza)". Bandcamp. September 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2019.

• 1952 births
• Living people
• Universal Congress Of members
• Hardcore punk musicians
• Post-hardcore musicians
• 20th-century American guitarists
• 21st-century American guitarists
• Enemy Records artists
• SST Records artists