Duck Baker - The King of Bongo Bong (2011)

Tracklist

01. New Righteous Blues
02. Crazy Rhythm
03. I Found a New Baby
04. No Love
05. There'll Be Some Changes Made
06. See You in My Dreams
07. I Ain't Got Nobody
08. Mama's Getting Younger, Papa's Getting Older Each Day
09. Immaculate Conception Rag
10. River Blues
11. Chicken Ain't Nothing but a Bird
12. King of Bongo Bong
13. Business As Usual


Duck Baker has been a figure in the acoustic guitar scene since the 1970?s and The King of Bongo Bong, his third record on the Kicking Mule label, highlights his interest in swing, blues and folk guitar. Duck would, later in his career, delve as deeply into Celtic and other traditional styles as he does into 20?s-era swing guitar on this recording. The four-to-the-bar style is prominent on a number of these tracks, and as usual with Duck Baker, a nylon-string guitar is played throughout the album. Duck mixes his playing with both strummed-chord comping on the more upbeat numbers and fingerstyle on the more intricate tunes, oftentimes blending the two picking styles.

The album kicks off with “New Righteous Blues”, a Baker/Stefan Grossman duet which oddly introduces Duck’s playing as accompaniment to Grossman’s soloing over the track. Though some of Stefan’s lead lines are tasteful, his pentatonic leads packed with skillful string-bends, this ever-present soloing seems overpowering in its presence throughout the track. Duck’s admirably honest voice doesn’t quite command one’ s attention enough to make this a strong vocal piece, either, which makes it a diffused rag-blues workout. Blind Blake’s 1930 recording of this song is far more compelling in its buoyant rhythm and highly syncopated style, and Blake’s original falsetto on the answering lines is missed in this updated version. “Deep River” features another prominent lead guitar contribution by Grossman, who also produced this album.

The gypsy swing of “Crazy Rhythm” is a faithful and exciting romp in Django-style jazz. Duck holds down the beat with appropriate rhythm guitar accompaniment, and also shows a flair for this style of lead playing with an overdubbed solo. This was unique for a guitarist in the Kicking Mule stable, though other acoustic acts in the States were beginning to incorporate gypsy jazz sounds into their repertiores. The year following this recording saw Stephane Grappelli guesting on US albums such as David Grisman’s Dawg Music (1977). This famous accompanist to Django exerted an enormous influence on players such as Mike Piggott, the violinist who contributes to several tunes on Bongo Bong.

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