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Do you actually know, what the biggest talent of life is? This is to know, when it's about time to stop. The problem is only, not many realize this point. Exspecially in showbiz, there are countless and partly great musicians, who have gone down over the years because of physical reasons. But they just can't stop and try too hard to carry on. Some of them have to out of financial reasons. Our drum legend Ginger Baker belongs to those, who have wasted themselves thanks to extensive use of unhealthy things. And he had a hell of a luck to survive these excesses, just leaving some deep tracies. And today, beeing 73 years old, he's only a shade of himself, though he does actually look healthier, as back then at his hay days. I guess I don't have to say much more to all your insiders of Classic Rock generation. Ginger Baker started his carriere in the early Sixties with the Graham Bond Organization, followed by the milestone Cream and after that it was Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Airforce.All of them lasted just for an eye glimpse in music history. Many other projects did follow from Baker Gurvitz Army 'till Ginger Baker & Friends or the Ginger Baker Trio. But most of all Baker himself saw himself never as a Rockmusician, but rather called his musical home - the Jazz stylistic. And so he said within an interview last year during his tour with bassist Jonas Helborg, that Crean had never been a rockband, but a fusion group. Well I presume that's open to everybody's point of view. But in history, Cream always belonged to classic Rock. |
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Right now Mr.Baker is once again on tour in Europe, this time with his Jazz Confusion. And that's what our attention is up to tongiht in Munich at the comfi Nightclub of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on Promenaden Square. In fact, I wasn' orginally supposed to be here, but rather follow another photo call. But thanks to some logistic difficulties, I've never arrived there. So I decided to check out Ginger Baker one more time. At this venue I'm not too often, only now and then, but I haven't seen this place that crowded as tonight, since Joe Zawinul a few years ago. So there you can see, how much the name Ginger Baker only - still pulls the crowd. |
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Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion exept himself, consists of saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, who had played in the past with Van Morrison, Maceo Parker and James Brown. Then there is britisch bassist Alec Dankworth and percussionist Abass Dodoo, who was discovered by Baker down in Africa, where he nowadays lives. They are all brilliant musicians, and there we are what I was talking about in the beginning of this review and where the problem lies. And this problem is Baker himself, who simply can't handle things a 100 percent anymore. The first set of the performance has a lenght of only about 35 minutes. And Bakers drum playing rather reminds me on a slight may wind and not a hurricane, that what it used to be. His announcements of songs sound acoustically like from beyond. And some of us do even hard to understand what he is saying. Shame, as the music itselves I do like very much. the show starts with Wayne Shorter's 'Footprints' a great standard. Monk's 'Bernsha Swing' contains a very clever arrangement, whereby 'Ginger Spice' is a little to short, which means it could be a little more extensive. But this as well has got something to do with Baker's personal condition. |
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The second set starts with Charlie Haden's 'Ginger Blues' and is a hommage ot the late british Blues pioneer. And it's ending with the calypso inspired 'St Thomas'. Also this second set ain't much longer than 30 minutes. Bake returns for a brief encore. But you can make out how much he's exhausted within such a concert.
The
audiance still hails him, because it's him - Ginger Baker - the drum
legend, who is standing up there right this moment and trys hard to keep
his reputation up. But not everything works out the way he probably
wants to. And he knows it, as after show he mumbles "I'm just a
grumpy old man". - Well he's dead right ain't he.... |
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