Posted on July 8, 2021
Duck Baker’s latest release is now available from ESP-Disk’, the iconic label that released many of the most important free jazz records of the 1960s, including classic titles by Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, The New York Art Quartet, Paul Bley, Marion Brown, and many other artists. Confabulations (ESP 6065) brings together recorded encounters with many of the great improvising musicians Baker has worked with over the years, mostly in duo settings. These include the trombone master Roswell Rudd, who appeared on one of the earliest ESP-Disk releases as a member of The New York Art Quartet. Other duo partners are guitarist Derek Bailey, pianist Steve Beresford, tenor saxophonist John Butcher, bassist Mark Dresser, and alto saxophonist Michael Moore. Also included are two tracks by Baker’s trio/quartet, featuring Alex Ward on clarinet, Steve Noble on drums, and John Edwards or Joe Williamson on bass. These recordings underline the fact that, although Duck Baker made his reputation in the folk/acoustic world, he is also an important free jazz/free improv guitarist, something that has been known by musicians in the field ever since his involvement with people like Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn in the Downtown New York scene during the late 1970s.
For a track listing and more information about Confabulations, click here
Confabulations is now available as a digital release or on CD copies. To order either format, click here:
• Audio CD