Ginger Baker

It was apparent from the beginning that Ginger Baker was a natural drummer. By age 16 with no instruction and after only a few months behind a kit, he had quit his day job and hit the road with a traditional jazz band.

American jazz had provided his inspiration, competitive cycling had afforded him remarkable stamina and a passion for choosing his own musical path would shape his pioneering career as a jazz driven drummer in the world of 60’s rock.

 

In 1966 after spending the early 60’s in a variety of jazz and R&B groups, he and former band mate Jack Bruce meet Eric Clapton to form the power trio Cream. This brief and turbulent collaboration led to some of music’s most innovative rock and rock-based blues.

 

Kicking double bass drums and flamming his way through power groves and fills woven skillfully around the vocals of Jack Bruce and the guitar work of Eric Clapton, Baker rose to a position of prominence and respect in both the jazz and rock communities.

 

Later, he was to collaborate with some of the most respected players of British rock to form Blind Faith and Ginger Baker’s Airforce, and has continued to play in a variety of groups and on an array of projects over the past 40 years.In 2005 he was reunited with Bruce and Clapton for a memorable series of Cream concerts at Royal Albert Hall and Madison Square Garden.