Legacies are tricky. You can’t see or touch them, yet they can be an unbearable weight to carry around. One has to imagine that’s the case for Kofi Baker, son of late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ginger Baker.
Not unlike his father, the younger Baker is a drummer. The Sons of Cream (SOC) is the current musical connection he has to his pop. SOC is a quartet that also counts the elder Baker’s grandnephew, Will Johns (guitar), as a member and original Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce’s son, Malcolm, rounding out the rhythm section.
What started out as a 50th anniversary tour commemorating the original Cream back in 2016 that also included Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes and guitarist Robben Ford as part of the group has now wound up as a trio hitting the road while drawing from the Cream and Blind Faith canons along with material from Half and Half, the forthcoming Sons of Cream debut album set to drop in the spring. Unlike his notoriously prickly father, Baker is relentlessly upbeat and bubbling over with enthusiasm when discussing drumming, the current tour and even his dad.
“The Cream stuff is a bunch of really good songs that are fun to play. ‘White Room’ is fun. It’s very simple, but it jams at the end. ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ is kind of simple, but again, it’s got a jam at the end. Most of these songs have jams at the end,” he said. “I’m an improvisational drummer — that’s what I like to do. I get to play this stuff the way I want to play it. What’s even more of a great thing is that I get to go on the road. Normally, when I’m at home, I’m a session player.”
The 56-year-old Chicago native has managed to carve out a career separate from his father. A jazz-fusion enthusiast, Baker’s favorite time-keepers include Gene Krupa, Stewart Copeland, Dave Weckl, Tony Williams and a pair of Frank Zappa drummers — Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta. Over time, he’s toured with Uli John Roth (The Scorpions) and Rick Derringer and spent a decade in OHM, a jazz-rock power trio that also included Chris Poland of Megadeth.
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Baker’s own time as a drummer started when he was a child. When told it was a pretty bold move to decide to play the same instrument as a parent who was considered to be an all-time great in his own right, Baker admitted it wasn’t necessarily his decision.
“It wasn’t really a choice. I started playing drums because my dad taught me how to play drums. He was really hard on me. He’d give me a pair of sticks and buy me these plastic drum kits that I’d bash to pieces. He wouldn’t let me on a drum kit until I learned all the rudiments. He made me sit there, playing a paradiddle, and then he’d leave the room and say I’d better not stop,” Baker recalled.
“With my dad, there was no debating. I’d play the paradiddle, and two hours later, my hands were hurting and I was crying because they hurt so much. When he came back, at least I’d gotten my paradiddle down. So that’s kind of how I started.”
That boot camp approach to percussion had Baker make his live debut performing alongside his father on The Old Grey Whistle Test when he was only six. His father left when he was 10, during which time the younger Baker’s family was evicted and faced homelessness. During that time, Baker rigorously practiced his drumming, eventually being forced to start playing professionally when he was 14.
Meeting up with his father a year later to show off what he learned didn’t exactly result in any kind of positive reinforcement, particularly given how strained the duo’s relationship had been, and would continue to be, until the elder Baker’s death in October 2019. And while Ginger Baker went through life in a state of perpetual anger, his son has found a far more tranquil path to go down that revolves around pursuing his craft and finding joy in that.
“The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten was to do something that you’re happy doing. Don’t go after money, go after happiness, because money does not buy you happiness,” he said. “I’ve turned down gigs and all kinds of stuff because it’s not really my thing. I’d rather play for less money at some little bar gig versus getting the big money and going on the road doing something I won’t like. Sometimes taking the bigger job is going to screw up your health. I always take health and happiness over money.”
Sons of Cream will be performing on March 1 at The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington. For more information, visit theparamountny.com or call 631-673-7300.
