Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe documents one of bluegrass's most consequential instrumental partnerships, fiddler Kenny Baker working through the tunes composed by his longtime bandleader Bill Monroe. Baker spent multiple stretches as Monroe's fiddler across the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and by the time of this recording he had spent more years inside the Blue Grass Boys than any other fiddler. His approach — long-bow phrasing, deep blues inflection, an unhurried rhythmic sense — became the model for how Monroe's tunes were played by the next generation, the interpretive lens through which most subsequent fiddlers approached the material. The arrangements stay close to the originals Monroe had been writing across his career, with a small supporting cast providing unobtrusive accompaniment. The album is essential listening for understanding how Monroe's tunes settled into their canonical instrumental form, with the fiddler whose readings did as much as any single player to define them.
Tracklist
- 1 Road to Columbus Source Recording 2:40
- 2 Brown County Breakdown Source Recording 4:10
- 3 Lonesome Moonlight Waltz alt version 3:56
- 4 Jerusalem Ridge alt version 6:39
- 5 Monroe’s Hornpipe alt version 3:01
- 6 Cheyenne alt version 3:30
- 7 Big Sandy River alt version 3:03
- 8 Stoney Lonesome alt version 2:37
- 9 Mississippi Waltz Source Recording 2:46
- 10 Wheel Hoss alt version 2:41
- 11 Fiddler's pastime 2:00
- 12 Ashland Breakdown Source Recording 2:16