Duck Baker

Breakdown Lane – Free solos & Duos 1976-1998

 ESP Disc

By all accounts finger style guitarist Duck Baker and living legend  (now 75) should be mentioned in the same conversation as Leo Kottke and John Fahey. Yet, who ever said the music world was fair? Baker was so advanced that he could play multiple genres but was singular because he alone was the acoustic guitarist that mastered free jazz. We covered his work on these pages once before, his 2022 live duo recording with Roswell Rudd. This 16 track recording, running nearly an hour, has just two duo track, “Take the A Train” and the title track with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. The other fourteen are solo pieces, with twelve originals and the others – “Peace” by Ornette Coleman, “Take the A Train” by Billy Strayhorn, and “Straight, No Chaser” from Thelonious Monk. While the latter two may generally be considered mainstream. The nod to Coleman hints at Baker’s avant garde leanings. Baker points to Sonny Sharrock for free jazz/free improv style, and Derek Bailey as a later influence. Yet, he draws most of his inspiration from the saxophonists Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Lyons, and Albert Ayler. Bass soloists such as Charles Mingus factor in as well.

When someone says, “he can play anything” it is typically hyperbole but not so with Baker who excels in other forms beyond jazz. He is comfortable in country music, Irish, blues, ragtime, swing, and whatever else you’d care to throw in there. This is a previously unreleased collection of mostly demo sessions or live recordings at various location over this 22 year period but as the word ‘free’ indicates, these are very much in the avant-garde mode played on his wooden flamenco guitar. Recently, lest I digress just a bit, much was made of Stanley Owlsley (The Grateful Dead’s sound man) recordings of bluesman John Hammond’s resonator stylings. Yet, every lick, finger pluck, and glide across the frets becomes even more distinct in this recording (at least to these ears).

Opener “Allah, Perhaps” is a mix of free jazz, blues, and wherever else Baker’s muse leads him. Coleman’s “Peace” is faithfully pensive but has its share of peak moments too. The melancholy “Like Flies” (Requiem for Bobby Fusell) is suitably mournful too but once we hit the title track (solo version) and later “Buffalo Fire” and “No Family Planning 2” baker is steaming hot, all over his fretboard, clearly improvising and making daring octave leaps from time to time, attacking the strings with ferocity. “Take the A Train” though seems a bit too simplistic for Baker’s liking, so he and Chadbourne deal with it playfully instead in their high level conversation. There’s no need to attempt to describe each track; Baker’s playing defies logic and is without compare to any other guitarist. Most of us could not imagine what he delivers on his flamenco guitar.

If you’re new to Baker as many likely are, you’ll find a vast catalog with just a little bit of searching. The Rudd duo recording is highly recommended and avant collaborations with John Zorn and John Butchers would likely prove interesting. If you’re not quite that adventurous, you could seek out those with Stefan Grossman, John Renbourn, Kottke, Molly Andrews, and Maggie Boyle. For the uninitiated and those in the know alike, he is the guitarist that deserves your attention.

– Jim Hynes

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