Posted on August 22, 2022
Hello friends and supporters of my musical efforts,
I’m sending this out to let people know about my new page on patreon.com. As the name implies, the purpose of this site is to enable people who want to give support to an artist to do that directly. At this point in my career, I’m not doing any performing, owing to both the increased difficulty and expense of travel and to my own mobility issues. What I am doing is locating old recordings I made solo or with other players, and seeing which ones are worth sharing with the public. I’m also still composing and making arrangements, and would like to get those out there for people who want to try them.
The more financial support I can get, the more I will be able to focus on the many projects I have lined up. The first is a CD/MP3 version of Duck Baker Plays Monk, which appeared on the Triple Point label as an LP in 2017. People have asked about a CD/digital release of this one since the day it came out. The new version will include 25 minutes of alternate takes and other additional material (listeners who have the LP will be able to order mp3’s of the bonus tracks). Another project I want to release ASAP is a red-hot duo set recorded live in 2004 with multi-instrumentalist Ken Emerson, who is heard on guitar, Hawaiian steel guitar, and ukulele. Studio recordings by our duo appeared on my Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans and Shades of Blue and on Kenny’s The Jack Of Spades, but this live set is much hotter.
Patreon is set up so that people can support at whatever level they can afford, but in return there will be a lot of content, from news, updates, memories and memorabilia, to recordings that have never been available, new arrangements, and much more. Please take a look here to see more about how it all works. https://www.patreon.com/duckbaker
In addition to the two releases mentioned above, some of the projects I am hoping to put out are compilations with myself and other musicians. One would be mostly duos with various guitarists (including Stefan Grossman, Woody Mann, Dale Miller, Davy Graham, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, and John James). Another would focus on encounters with traditional musicians (including fiddlers Frank Ferrel, Kieran Fahey, and Hal Hughes, mandolinist Massimo Gatti, and a the group The Expatiate Game, with vocalist/flutist Maggie Boyle and fiddler Ben Paley). I also have plans for solo collections devoted to Blues & Gospel, to Irish tunes, and to swing jazz in the works, as well as a couple of modern jazz collections, solo and with other players. Finally, there are two projects that will feature other guitarists performing compositions of mine that have not yet been recorded: one by the very fine English guitarist Steve Hicks, and the other an anthology featuring four or five different players. It really is a lot of material, and support even at the basic level of £3 a month will make a big difference in getting it out there. Altogether there are at least a dozen records on my to-do list. A few of these will come out on labels other than my own, but they still require quite a lot of work.
Thanks for your time and consideration, Duck Baker