[2] He was introduced to music at an early age by his father, a trumpet player who played in rock bands and doubled on an eclectic collection of instruments, including saxophone, flute, Rhodes, synthesizer and percussion.

He left after two years and eventually relocated to New York City, where he enrolled at The Juilliard School (studying with Ron Blake, Steve Wilson, Joe Temperley, Frank Kimbrough, Kendall Briggs and others) and completed an undergraduate degree in 2014.

[10] Baird recorded and released his debut album, Crosscurrent, in 2010, featuring pianist Julian Waterfall Pollack, guitarist John Storie, bassist Christopher Tordini, drummer Steve Lyman and percussionist James Yoshizawa.

[16] He has performed or recorded with artists Chaka Khan, Bill Champlin, Matthew Morrison, Jakob Dylan, Diana Degarmo, Chloe Agnew and Morgan James.

[4][17][18] He has also worked with jazz and fusion artists including Chris Botti, Mike Stern, Antonio Farao, Aaron Parks, Thana Alexa, Dennis Chambers, Gary Grainger, Gene Perla, Dan Tepfer, Thomas Dawson, Victor Wooten, Keith Carlock, Circuit Kisser and the Mingus Big Band, among others.