Duck Baker
Jamie Findlay

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Jamie Findlay, guitar
Duck Baker, guitar

Jamie Findlay is one of the masters of contemporary acoustic guitar. With two CDs under his own name, "Wings of Light" and "Amigos del Corazón", Jamie is also a very busy performer and composer, both in the States and abroad. His music is flavored by many styles from jazz and blues to pop and funk. Most recently, Jamie has formed the Acoustic Jazz Quartet, an L.A. based jazz band that features Jamie's compositions, with a Naxos Jazz release distributed worldwide in April, '99, and a new Acoustic Jazz Quartet release due out in 2000. Jamie contributes to several guitar magazines throughout the world, has taught Jazz Guitar at the University of Southern California and now teaches at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Ca. Since 1975, an impressive personal career has been developed, with travel and performance throughout almost all parts of the United States, as well as to Asia and Central America, Brazil, and seven tours of Europe, performing and giving clinics.

"... The pressure of this sort of instrumentation is obviously on the guitarist, who is obliged to provide harmony, melody, and rhythm, some times individually, often collectively. And Findlay ... covered the various demands with ease. On groove oriented pieces ... he tailored his sound and his articulation to fit the push of the rhythm; on gentler lines such as Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Felicidade," he took a more acoustic path, generating a subtle undercurrent of bossa nova."- Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

Duck Baker is one of the most highly regarded fingerstyle guitarists of his generation. His repertoire ranges from traditional Irish music through old-time mountain music and  bluegrass to blues, gospel, ragtime, swing and modern jazz. Baker has a reputation as a virtuoso but his performances depend as much on his humorous and informative stage manner as on technical bravura. Baker's greatest success has come in the guitar world; his arrangements have influenced hundreds of players who have learned from his books and recordings, and his compositions have been recorded by other pickers like Stefan Grossman, John Renbourn, Pat Kirtley, and Joe Miller. He has appeared at guitar festivals and concerts all over America and Europe, but it is perhaps more important to realize that he has made a considerable name for himself in several different musical camps. Unlike some guitarists who borrow superficially from various traditions for their solo performances, Baker has developed by learning to play each style in group situations and basing his solo arrangements on that experience. His catholicism has been likened to musicians who perform the classical repertoire from renaissance through to modern music.

Baker's recordings after 1980 have for the most part focused on his own compositions,  but he also made recordings of blues and gospel material, a collection of early European Christmas carols, and two highly acclaimed CD's with the excellent Appalachian traditional singer Molly Andrews. Baker has written several books on fingerstyle guitar, made numerous tutorial videos, and has several sound tracks to his credit. His fingerpicking peers are on record as saying:

"Duck Baker is a true genius of the guitar."  - Stefan Grossman

"Duck has discovered a way to write which is purely and originally beautiful. I think he sets a standard we all can aspire to."  - Leo Kottke

"Listening to Duck Baker makes me feel good." - Charlie Byrd

"Duck's compositions will make a significant contribution to the repertoire of the guitar, but until then the music makes fantastic listening" - John Renbourn