Derek Bailey

Solo Guitar

★★★½

Bailey on Incus, the golden years some might argue. I think so far that's living up to my expectation. Bailey always seems a bit jarring for new listeners, not as much as someone like Evan Parker, but any horn is more likely to attract the attention of the listener. Bailey's improvisations are more intricate, it's like a very detailed maze that requires practice and time to fully figure out. Bailey was an innovator and inspiration to many other guitarists and improvisers and here you can get a glimpse into his earlier stages in becoming that legend. While this isn't my preferred setting for Bailey, I think he creates some stunning improvisational moments and performs the three other "standards" quite well. 

I think it's due to the electric guitar, I've always been a bigger admirer of his acoustic playing and the style that with it. I'd perhaps venture to say it's my favorite album from him on electric guitar, and a big part of that comes from the improvisation tracks on the first half of the album. Like around the one minute mark on "Improvisation 5", you really get the sense that Bailey has the experience needed with electric guitar and can effectively bend the instrument and its sounds to his will. The journey through the four improvisational tracks is very fluid and natural, almost becoming a suite on accident. They are more like the Bailey you know and love, but as great as that is, the last three songs provide a side of him that is rarely seen or heard.

The three songs are compositions from his friends, from Misha Mengelberg, Willem Breuker and Gavin Bryars. "Christiani Eddy" is the strangest of all of them, and definitely the most surreal to me. It sounds like it was a recording that happened by accident while Bailey played some of the most intricate and fast paced material I've heard from him. It's like a workout for his fingers, and he takes a second long break to clear his throat. It's all a bit funny and I bet impossible to recreate after the take. "Where is the Police?" is a motorik echoing that sounds like when you open your throat up and do those vocal extensions. It's a bit funny and the synths are something you don't see often, if at all, from Bailey. The final track, "The Squirrel and the Ricketty-Racketty Bridge", is Bailey playing two guitars at once and is a clean break and display of skill from Bailey. Not only was he a master improviser, but he was a master guitar player.

It's not surprise either, playing from the age of ten until his death. Bailey stuck with this instrument for his whole life and I can't imagine that he would see it as anything but a part of his existence. The cover should tell you all that as well. It's a beautiful and confusing collage of Bailey in what seems to be a repair shop or store for guitars. Surrounding himself with a sense of musicality and intimacy with an instrument that is not very easy for everyone to form, and this connection is rarely separated. There's a lot of Bailey left, but hearing the album Carpal Tunnel and then listening to some of his earlier works is just heartbreaking. Even at the end of his life he kept pure to the art, as well as he could.

Favorite Song: Christiani Eddy