Duck Baker is one of the most highly regarded fingerstyle guitarists of his generation. His repertoire ranges from traditional Irish music through old-time mountain music and bluegrass to blues, gospel, and ragtime to swing and modern jazz, to free improvisation.
Whilst he is best known in the guitar world, Duck has made a reputation in several other camps, including the Celtic music world and the avant-garde jazz scene. He explains this catholicism by pointing out that folk musicians have always been more eclectic than folklorists want to admit, and noting that his approach to American music is similar to that of a classical musician to that tradition.
Duck is also a prodigious composer, having written well over 200 pieces, mostly for guitar, and an even more prodigious arranger for the instrument. His recording career spans five decades and includes 40 records under his own name, another 12 in duo or trio settings, and a further 40 appearances on anthologies or as a sideman. He has also authored 12 music books and a similar number of instructional videos.
Duck was born Richard R. Baker IV in 1949 and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His teenage years were devoted to playing in rock and blues bands before becoming interested in fingerpicking blues and folk styles in local coffeehouses. Ragtime pianist Buck Evans was a major influence on Baker’s evolution, exposing the young guitarist to ragtime and early jazz at a time when the styles had largely been forgotten.
By the time he moved to San Francisco in the early seventies, Duck was performing the wide range of material heard on his first record, There’s Something for Everyone in America (Kicking Mule Records, 1976). During his San Francisco sojourn he worked regularly in a bluegrass band and also tapped into the flourishing swing/trad jazz scene. He learned to play these and other styles by working in groups, and arranged some of the repertoire learned in this manner for his solo performances. This has been Baker’s approach throughout much of his career, and it sets him apart from most fingerstyle guitarists.
It's worth noting that, contrary to what some writers have assumed, Baker has never been part of the fingerpicking school that includes John Fahey and Leo Kottke, even though he knew John and collaborated with Leo on a Grammy-nominated project. The pickers Duck Baker emulated as a youngster were blues revivalists who were branching out into ragtime and traditional Appalachian music like Dave Van Ronk .
Among Baker’s records that have received the most critical acclaim in years past are The Kid on the Mountain, the 1981 release that was the first ever solo guitar record of Celtic music, The Salutation, a collection of Christmas music that many have cited as one of the best and most serious in this very wide field, and Spinning Song, the CD produced by John Zorn dedicated to the music of the great jazz pianist/composer, Herbie Nichols. Acoustic Guitar magazine described Spinning Song as “one of the best guitar albums ever recorded - by anybody.”
Duck Baker has long been regarded as a great picker by his peers, but is a classic case of a “musician’s musician,” often overlooked by concert organizers who are often more impressed by the current flavours of the month then by dedicated artistry, and a musical press that doesn't quite know how to pigeonhole him. This last is understandable, given the musical ground Baker has covered over the years, from blues, gospel and classic ragtime to Appalachian, Irish, and Scottish folk music to swing and modern jazz and free improvisation. But while this may have perplexed some writers, audiences have always enjoyed Baker's versatility as well as his engaging stage manner.
Duck’s Recordings On Harbourtown Records
Having followed Duck’s musical adventures over the years, Harbourtown Records are honoured to have "Duck Baker Meets The Great Pickers" on our label. This retrospective compilation of some of Duck’s less-known collaborations highlights a largely unknown aspect of his career and will, we believe, further enhance the reputation of this outstanding and innovative American fingerstyle guitarist.
This 2-CD set "Duck Baker Meets The Great Pickers", which finds the legendary fingerpicker in encounters with many of the most celebrated acoustic guitarists of his generation.
Featuring Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Davy Graham, Stefan Grossman, Woody Mann, Dale Miller, Ken Emerson, Peppino D’Agostino, John James, Jack Lawrence, Jim Nichols, Franco Morone, Will Scarlett, Bob Wilson, Tokio Uchida, and Yoshihiro Arita, the programme features blues standards, guitar rags, Irish jigs, gospel numbers, and original pieces by six of the featured pickers.
Of special interest to guitar enthusiasts are versions of tunes associated with Chet Atkins, Blind Blake, Maybelle Carter, Elizabeth Cotten, Reverend Gary Davis, John Fahey and Jimmy Reed. No fan of red-hot picking will want to miss this marvellous collection.
The performances on "Duck Baker Meets The Great Pickers" were selected by Duck himself, mostly from his personal archive of unreleased recordings. They cover virtually every period of his recording career, from 1976-2018, and include live and studio recordings from five different countries on three different continents.
Tracks:
-CD ONE:
Stefan Grossman (2), Woody Mann (6, 15), Dale Miller (4, 8, 13), Jack Lawrence (1, 9), Ken Emerson (3, 10), Will Scarlett, harmonica (7, 14), Jim Nichols (12), and Bob Wilson (5, 11, 14)
01 Freight Train
02 Danish Drone
03 Barnes Station Blues
04 Zamba’s Strut
05 When I Grow Too Old To Dream
06 Cincinnati Flow Rag
07 Little Rain
08 Medley: Sweet Georgia Brown/Bill Bailey
09 Lonesome Road Blues
10 Laughing Just To Keep From Cryin'
11 Love Nest
12 Windy & Warm
13 In Christ There Is No East Or West
14 My Bucket's Got A Hole In It
15 Out of Nowhere
CD TWO
John Renbourn (5, 13), Bert Jansch (4, 14), Davy Graham (8), John James (1, 10), Peppino D’Agostino (6, 11), Franco Morone (2), Tokio Uchida (7, 12), and Yoshihiro Arita, banjo (3, 9)
01 First Meeting
02 Blue Monk
03 Limehouse Blues
04 Come Back, Baby
05 Lashtal’s Room
06 Seven Point One
07 Closer Walk With Thee
08 Jones
09 Honeysuckle Rose
10 Bumpass Stomp
11 Merrily Kissed etc./Haste to the Wedding
12 St. Louis Blues
13 Waltz On Sunday
14 Kingfisher