Duck Baker - Biography and Career

Biography and Career

Baker grew up in Richmond, Virginia. As a teenager he played in rock and blues bands before becoming interested in acoustic blues. In the early seventies he moved to San Francisco, and was performing a wide range of material which can be heard on his first record on the Kicking Mule label, There's Something for Everyone In America. In addition to developing his solo style, he immersed himself in the local swing jazz scene and avant-garde jazz/improv scene.

In the late seventies Baker released four more records for Kicking Mule, including two devoted to jazz and a solo guitar record of Irish and Scottish music. He also began touring as a solo artist throughout North America, Western Europe and Australia. He eventually moved to Europe before returning to San Francisco in 1987. As of 2009, he resides in Reading, England.

Baker views himself as an exponent of the full tapestry of vernacular American music and of its tributary traditions, especially the Anglo-Irish strain. His collaborators in the 1990s and 2000s reflect the breadth of his interests, including the Irish fiddler, Kieran Fahy, and the traditional singer, Molly Andrews, trombonist Roswell Rudd, bassist Mark Dresser, guitarists Jamie Findlay, Woody Mann and Ken Emerson, fiddler Ben Paley and singer-flutist Maggie Boyle. His solo recordings since 1980 have largely focused on his own compositions, which reflect the influence of the great jazz pianists/composers as well as the breadth of his other interests. Since moving back to England in 2004, Baker has formed several groups with whom he performs when possible, including a modern jazz trio with Alex Ward on clarinet and either Joe Williamson or John Edwards on bass, a swing trio featuring Ward and violinist Mike Piggott and, most recently, a duo with Italian guitarist and percussionist Giorgio Buttazzo.

Although he plays flat-top steel string guitar with some frequency, Baker is nearly unique among fingerstyle guitarists in emphasizing the nylon string flamenco guitar. A good many other pickers like Jerry Reed, John Knowles, and Buster B. Jones have used classical instruments, but Baker's use of the less familiar flamenco instrument is notable.

Baker also frequently writes reviews for a variety of jazz publications, and is the author of several instructional manuals for guitarists. He has recently become a columnist for the UK guitar magazine Acoustic. He has also had articles published in two books, including John Zorn's acclaimed "Arcana" series.