VOTD 12/7/2024

 Duck Baker: Duck Baker Plays Monk (Triple)

Purchased at Fungus Books and Records

Okay, I'm snagged. Put a record in front of me titled So-and-so Plays Monk and chances are I'll buy it. Off the top of my head, I own copies Hal Wilner's That's the Way I Feel Now with its large variety of less-than-traditional takes, as well as all-Monk albums by Steve Lacy, Tommy Flanagan, Charlie Rouse, Sphere, Bud Powell, James Spaulding, and probably others. Some are quite good but I'm not sure ever rise to the level of the master himself.

So yes, I'll put down a few bucks for this Duck Baker LP. I noticed Duck's name turning up here and there as far back as the late 90s, probably due to an album he recorded of Herbie Nichols' music. I knew he played guitar, and not much else. Come to think of it, I still don't know much more about him. 

He plays fingerpick-style acoustic guitar, and he's solo in this setting. The program is nine pieces, largely pretty standard works from the Monk book: "Blue Monk" "Off Minor" "Bemsha Swing" "Round Midnight" "Light Blue" "Straight, No Chaser" "Jackie-ing" "In Walked Bud""Misterioso". All pieces I've played, with the possible except of "Jackie-ing". 

A few years back, pre-COVID and then a few, I went to see Sean Jones play Billy Strayhorn's music at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (named for Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn). They announced they would play "Satin Doll" and I rolled my eyes: that's a work I never really need to hear again. But then Sean played it, and it was great. He made it sound like a piece of music again and not just a parody of itself, which I how I usually hear it. Point being, I don't necessarily need to hear another version of "Blue Monk" or "Round Midnight" unless the artist really makes something out of them. 

I think it's fair to say that Duck recognizes the form and changes to each of the pieces without being married to them. Most takes begin with some sort of introduction, presumably improvised (or mostly so) that eventually leads to the melody. He doesn't always stay with the original key of the pieces, choosing more guitar-friendly keys. Roswell Rudd wrote some of the liner notes, pointing out the "Blue Monk" is taken from the original B flat down to E, giving it a Delta blues flavor on solo guitar. 

As a single-line melodic instrumentalist, I marvel at the ability of multiphonic instruments to shape lines and harmonies simultaneously. Being a solo guitarist, Duck doesn't have the sort of resources on hand that a pianist would, but he makes due with what six strings has to offer. He plays crisp lines, supporting himself with harmonies, sometimes not. Occasionally a line will shoot off into atonality, always to come rushing back to the tune. He doesn't go into the so-called extended techniques the way that Eugene Chadbourne does, Duck is all about notes played on strings stopped against frets.

Overall? An entire LP of solo guitar is a lot, but this is one of the better Monk programs I've heard. I wonder how Duck is in an ensemble setting? His time seems to be very good when he's playing more metrically. I might just have to go back to Fungus and get the Herbie Nichols LP, which they also had on hand.