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It seems as though there are more fingerpicking guitarists than ever making records these days, but
few indeed stand out from the crowd. There are a small number who seem to love guitar playing enough
to put some honest work into it. Every one of this small circle is worth hearing; each has something
original that their working relationship with the instrument has produced. This is the community that
sustains and furthers the music, and if you want to know who is making waves in the guitar world, these
are the folks to talk to.
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Eric is great at taking a well-known tune from an unexpected angle and completely reworking it. "Glory
of Love", a 3/4 setting of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child", and the highly harmonized "Eight of
January" are good examples. He can also pay respect to a master without losong his individuality, as
he does with Gary Davis' "There's a Destruction". His rambunctious setting of the fiddle tune "Colored
Aristocracy" over a slippery Professor Longhair bass line is already considered a classic in picking
circles. He even tackles Thelonious Monk's "Manganese" (a.k.a. "We See") with excellent results.
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Eric is great at taking a well-known tune from an unexpected angle and completely reworking it. "Glory
of Love", a 3/4 setting of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child", and the highly harmonized "Eight of
January" are good examples. He can also pay respect to a master without losong his individuality, as
he does with Gary Davis' "There's a Destruction". His rambunctious setting of the fiddle tune "Colored
Aristocracy" over a slippery Professor Longhair bass line is already considered a classic in picking
circles. He even tackles Thelonious Monk's "Manganese" (a.k.a. "We See") with excellent results.
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Good as he is with arranging, it is no surprise that he does so well with his own musical ideas. I think
of Eric as one of the best American fingerstyle composers, and there is convincing evidence here, from
the joyful "Cajun Cook" to the excellent jazz waltzes "Strike" and DeRigueur".
Eric is a good singer
and superior songwriter, and I wouldn't be suprised if he manages to contribute something of lasting
value in that field. But when it comes to guitar playing, arranging, and composing, there is no doubt
about it, if they send some fingerpicking astronaut on one of those 300 year voyages that only takes
ten years out of his life, he will find on his return, if he finds anything at all, that guitarists are
still listening to this CD.
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Duck Baker, Oakland, 1997
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The CD Duck Baker is referring to is "Black Key Blues". For more information about this CD and
to hear some sample MP3s...Recordings.
For information about a guitar tablature book from this CD...
Tab.
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