Northern California guitarist Charlie Baty, better known to jazz, blues and swing fans as “Little Charlie,” has died.
The news was reported by Blues Music Magazine, citing information provided by Baty’s former label boss at Chicago’s legendary Alligator Records.
“Sad news from Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records regarding Little Charlie Baty’s passing. RIP Charlie, we love you!!” reads a tweet from the magazine.
No official statement or details about his passing were available.
Baty is best known for leading Little Charlie and the Nightcats, the popular Sacramento-based swing revival act that he formed with vocalist/harmonica player Rick Estrin in the mid-’70s.
Sad news from Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records regarding Little Charlie Baty's passing. RIP Charlie, we love you!! pic.twitter.com/IjZoXwOwYy
— Blues Music Magazine (@BluesMusicMag) March 7, 2020
Word of his death spread quickly on social media on Saturday, drawing tributes and condolences from both music lovers and musicians around the globe.
“Tonight we would like to dedicate our concert at @ElParaiguabcn to the memory of Charlie Baty. Rest in peace sir.#blues #musicabarcelona #musicaenviu @ El Paraigua,” tweeted Barcelona blues band Mr. Shingles.
Tonight we would like to dedicate our concert at @ElParaiguabcn to the memory of Charlie Baty. Rest in peace sir.#blues #musicabarcelona #musicaenviu @ El Paraigua https://t.co/IrXFJDrWAK
— Mr. Shingles (@ShinglesMr) March 7, 2020
“Stunning sudden loss in the music world today. RIP Little Charlie Baty. There will never be another,” posted Canadian blues guitarist Jim Walsh.
Stunning sudden loss in the music world today. RIP Little Charlie Baty. There will never be another. https://t.co/hunyVQco1Z
— Jim Walsh (@WalshJimWalsh) March 7, 2020
And, of course, he had plenty of admirers in the local blues music community.
“Charlie Baty was one of the hottest and most versatile guitar players the world is ever heard,” says San Jose blues vocalist-guitarist J.C. Smith. “A lot of people were trying to reach the heights of Little Charlie but I think that page might be closed now.”
Born in 1953, Baty reportedly feel in love with the blues at an early age and soon decided that he wanted to be a harmonica player. He then traded to the guitar after seeing such legends as Buddy Guy perform in concert, going the self-taught route rather than taking lessons.
“You listen and watch,” Baty explained of how he learned to play in an interview with the Davis Enterprise. “You observe B.B. King bend his guitar strings. You watch other people on stage and compile things.
“The first thing you have to do is develop your ear. If you want to play something cool, you have to be able to hear it and then be able to translate that to your fingers.”
He reportedly earned a degree in mathematics from U.C. Berkeley in the mid-’70s, before relocating from the Bay Area to Sacramento, where he’d form Little Charlie and the Nightcats.
For a while, he balanced a day job with playing music at night, but decided in the late ’80s to devote himself to the Nightcats.
Of course, it helped matters that the band had scored a record deal with the mighty Alligator Records, which led to the release of the band’s debut album, “All the Way Crazy,” in 1987. One year later, the sophomore effort “Disturbing the Peace” followed.
The group went on to release several other albums under the Alligator banner, while touring throughout the world and performing at such prestigious events as the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Along the way, Baty shared the stage with such greats as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Gregg Allman and Albert Collins.
In 2008, Baty decided to retire from the band, which would from then on be known as Rick Estrin and the Nightcats. He later went on to form the group Little Charlie and Organ Grinder Swing.
Baty once said that one of the things he liked to do was “to get up on stage and have no idea what the first song is going to be,” he told the Davis Enterprise.
“You cannot have fear as a guitar player … .”
RIP to East Bay great Ron Thompson. We've lost one of the best guitarists in Bay Area blues history @EastBayTimes @mercnews https://t.co/0YUJfYoT6Y
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) February 19, 2020
Jim the Critic's Picks (March 12-18) w/ @tameimpala at @chasecenter @HamiltonMusical star @leslieodomjr at @AugustHall_SF #Hiromi at @SFJAZZ @ThirdEyeBlind at @foxoakland @ebaynetflix at @FillmoreSF @apeconcerts @livenationsf @mercnews @eastbaytimes https://t.co/UcyrVz3Ewd
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) March 5, 2020