Falling off the Roofby Anonymous

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May 17, 2001: While not as surprisingly good as The Ginger Baker Trio's ''Going Back Home,'' ''Falling off the Roof'' is a solid instrumental effort. Joined again by guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Charlie Haden, Baker provides the listener with a good collection of mostly original material. Again, the trio's sound veers into various musical genres, from rock, to jazz, to bluegrass and fusion, achieving more mixed results than on their previous effort together, but sill inspiring pleasure in the listener. Some caveats are in order. The trio's playing is less tight than before, and while Bela Fleck adds a unique flavor by playing banjo on a couple of tracks, his presence takes away slightly from the sound and style that Baker, Frisell, and Haden had achieved on their previous album together. The band's material, over all, is strong, but not as impresssive as before. No surprise, perhaps, considering the heights the trio had reached on their first album. Baker's drumming, while accomplished, lacks some of the punch that it had throughout ''Going Back Home.'' The trio, furthermore, might have done better to cut from the playlist ''Our Spanish Love Song'' and ''Skeleton,'' which slow down the pacing of the album. Nevertheless, the trio has made another album that inspires repeat playing. As with the work of many great artists, even when they are not at the top of their form, they are still very good.

This review was written about the CD edition.