In Play

Derek Bailey

Bailey- acoustic guitar

Derek Bailey’s music has such a fiercely uncompromising reputation, but it has never attracted me at all. A few years ago, however, he was said to have mellowed. People said he no longer made the thorny and angular records he was famous for. I’m one who welcomes pretty much all manner of music, noise and noise music, but Bailey Old put me off. Would Bailey New be any better? They said he was even doing standards now that you could recognize as standards, you could recognize the tunes. Speaking of recognition, if you’d played In Play to me in a blindfold test, I wouldn’t have suspected it was Bailey. It’s that radically different. It is gentle, delicate and totally comfortable with small gestures. (Well, the small gestures part is Old Bailey, too). It’s a shock and a revelation to me. It needs to be said, however, that this isn’t as accessible as, say, Ralph Towner or anyone you’d hear on public radio. But it’s more than worth paying attention to. I’m now a convert of sorts and look forward to his Ballads album. I really am warming up to this one. Come home, Derek. All is forgiven. Bailey continues to confound me. That’s his job, after all.

www.samadisound.com

Richard Grooms