ALBUM REVIEW : Baker Mixes It Up With a Tribal Touch

* * 1/2 GINGER BAKER “Going Back Home”, Atlantic

Is there anybody left alive who still finds Ginger Baker’s drum solo from “Toad” the peak of the percussionist craft? Not likely. But Baker has refined his play since his glory days with Cream, recording with such musicians as Fela Kuti, Bill Laswell, L. Shankar and Sonny Sharrock over the years. Today his sound has a tribal feel--part Ed Blackwell, part Keith Moon--that’s heavy with tom-tom rolls and take-it-to-the-bridge accents.

“Home” finds the drummer in strange company, paired with tweed-suited Ornette Coleman veteran Charlie Haden on upright bass and sparky, fly-guitarist Bill Frisell. Surprisingly, the three make for a slick synthesis, Haden’s hillbilly hipness standing solidly behind Frisell’s twangy tones while Baker drums up accommodating grooves that are wide if not particularly deep.

The 10 tunes cover blues, jazz and rock bases with Baker’s own contributions giving the date a Middle Eastern flavor. On Frisell’s “Rambler,” the drummer strikes up a march so slack it shuffles. Thelonious Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” moves with swagger as Baker’s tom and cymbal shots stumble along behind Frisell’s woozy tones.

Baker’s longtime fans will best like his “East Timor.” On it, Baker’s spoken polemics about the island’s strife, more solemn recitation than rap, give way to a strong rock jam that features hot licks from both drums and guitar. But jazz fans looking for pin-point precision and polyrhythmic complexity will find this disc too loose and loopy.