The Year of the Ear” was an eleven piece band. Based first in Boston and then in New York, they played compositions and arrangements by guitarist Baird Hersey, who led the band. What originally started as a recording project in 1975 quickly became a performing band that played virtually every club, and many colleges in Boston. In New York they played many of the most respected jazz venues, among them: The Public Theater, The Village Gate, Seventh Ave South, the Other End, and Folk City. They played Monday nights at Ali’s Alley for an extended period. In 1980, they performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival. Their final performance was “Island” composed by Baird on a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Composition Fellowship. “Year of The Ear” Bent Records 1975. Featured saxophonist David Liebman on four cuts. Five cuts are the recording band. The second side of the LP was an extended piece for full big band.