Posted on March 12, 2022
There are two new releases and more on the way.
We now have copies of the recently released CD Live, which features the duo with trombonist Roswell Rudd and Duck Baker in action in New York in 2002 and Albuquerque in 2004. This came out on a bigger label than is usual for Baker, Dot Time, and there will also be an LP release later this year. Live has already gotten a lot of attention in the press, including reviews from some such well known jazz journalists as Kevin Whitehead, Howard Mandel, and Scott Yanow. The music is about evenly divided between modern jazz tunes and pieces based on a free association/collage approach that involves quotations from familiar tunes. (The 2021 release Confabulations included two more of these collage pieces, and other tracks from the same concerts also appeared on Ducks Palace and Shades of Blue).
To purchase, click here:
Roswell Rudd and Duck Baker Live (CD)
For a track listing and more information, click here:
Roswell Rudd and Duck Baker Live (More Info)
Also now available after many a delay is Wink The Other Eye, a collection primarily devoted to American fiddle tunes, arranged for solo guitar. This is a budget release on the Fulica label which includes tracks drawn from earlier recordings, as well as some tracks included with instructional projects, and others from demo recordings and live performances. In all, 15 of the 26 tracks here are previously unissued, and while other versions of many of these tunes did appear on record, there are a half-dozen that were never recorded as solos elsewhere.
To purchase, click here:
Wink The Other Eye (Audio CD)
For a track listing and more information, click here:
Wink The Other Eye (More Info)
Meanwhile, the half-price sale continues on over two dozen titles, though some prices are now back to normal owing to limited stock. The sale prices will continue for many items until Mr. Baker has located a new abode and actually made the move.
In other news, fans of Mr. Baker’s avant-garde music will be happy to hear that John Zorn will be releasing two trio versions of one of his early game pieces called “Fencing”, that were recorded within a week of each other in July of 1978. One features the Guitar Trio of Eugene Chadbourne, Duck Baker, and Randy Hutton (also heard on “The Guitar Trio in Calgary 1977“, available at the online store), while the other features Chadbourne and Zorn with violinist Polly Bradfield. John hopes to release the CD on his Tzadik label by late summer of this year, and copies will be available for purchase here. Also in the works is a solo CD called “Contra Costa Dance”, drawn from recently unearthed demo tapes made in 1982. It is slated for release on the Confront label, hopefully by this summer. Another release that should arrive later this year is a duo recording with steel guitarist/guitarist/ukulele player Ken Emerson, captured live in action at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley in 2004. And several other collections of archival material are is in the planning stages and one or two of them may hit before the year is out. Stay tuned!