Kenny Baker – Darkness On The Delta

Featuring two of Bill Monroe’s finest fiddle players, this 1980 release has been long overdue for reissue.

Four of Monroe’s niftiest twin fiddle numbers, including the under-recorded “Tallahassee”, are among the disc’s eleven selections, but the remainder give a taste of the two musicians’ broader tastes. These include a couple of lush waltzes, two Baker originals (one well-known, one obscure), pop/swing staples from an earlier era (the title track and “Farewell Blues”), and nods to western swing master Bob Wills, who popularized “Silver Bells” and wrote “Faded Love”.

Baker’s sweet, bluesy long bow and Hicks’ rich, exuberant double stops are delightfully complementary, yet distinctive enough that one hardly needs the notes identifying who is soloing when. The backing musicians, too, are relaxed and elegant as they follow the fiddlers’ lead through the program. Banjo player Allen Shelton and mandolinist Buck White (who appears on five tracks) both have an underappreciated affinity for country-style pop and swing and a melodic sense well-suited to the waltzes. Guitarist Benny Williams and a young Roy Huskey Jr. on the bass underpin each selection with solid, tasteful rhythm.

Darkness On The Delta broke no new ground when it was released, but it wasn’t intended to. Rather, it offered an opportunity to hear a couple of masters playing together for pure enjoyment, and there’s just as much of that to be had today as there was a quarter of a century ago.