Duck Baker and Friends - Jim Nichols, Tony Marcus, Bill Evans,
Phillip GreenliefDuck 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, and while he is best known in the guitar world, he has made a reputation in several other camps, including the Celtic music world and the avant-garde scene. He explains this eclecticism 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. Baker 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 some 29 records under his own name, another 8 in duo or trio settings, and a further 32 appearances on anthologies or as a sideman. He has also authored 12 music books and a similar number of instructional videos.
Appearing with Duck for his return to the Freight are a fine group of players who represent a cross-section of the great styles played by Bay Area musicians.
Jim Nichols is best known in the guitar world as a world-class exponent of the Chet Atkins-Jerry Reed school, but he is also a fine jazz player who can cover everything from swing to bop and beyond. Jim often works with his wife, the vocalist Morning Nichols.
Tony Marcus’s name is well known to Freight audiences. His fiddle, guitar, and vocals have been featured in many familiar lineups, from the Cheap Suit Serenaders to the Cats and Jammers to his captivating duo with Patrice Haan, Leftover Dreams.
Helping Duck reach back for some down-home flavor will be banjo master Bill Evans. Bill’s credentials go far beyond his association with a plethora of noted bluegrassers; he has been a student of banjo history for over 40 years and his passion for the instrument has resulted in an impressive number of books, articles, and lively lecture/performances.
Helen Roche has experience singing a wide variety of music, from the punk bands she performed with in London in the 1980s to Balkan songs, but she is best known as an interpreter of the Irish tradition, and is familiar on the London Irish scene. Her 2004 CD “Shake the Blossom Early” received rave reviews in the British and Irish folk press.
Rounding out the stylistic mix is tenor saxophonist
Phillip Greenlief, who has worked with a who’s-who of avant garde jazz and post-jazz figures including Meredith Monk, Fred Frith, Neils Cline, and dozens of others. Phillip will help salute two modern jazz greats, Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk (Duck’s solo salute to the latter, Duck Baker Plays Thelonious Monk, has just been released on Triple Point Records).