For over 10 years, Chris Jones and Steve Baker were one of the most exciting acoustic duo acts in Europe. The combination of Jones' exquisite guitar and vocal work with Baker's unmistakeable harp playing was simply unique. With Damn Good Run, Acoustic Music Records pays tribute to their thrilling duo partnership. The best songs from ten unforgettable years together. Fourteen tunes from four albums. The guitar icon and the harmonica legend were soul brothers, whose deep friendship and intuitive musical understanding were ended only by Jones’ tragically early death in September 2005.

Chris Jones was undoubtedly one of the finest and most in-demand acoustic guitarists in Europe. He recorded and performed with a wide range of international artists including Allen Taylor, Sara K, Steve Strauss and Reinhard Mey. But his unique grasp of the folk and blues idiom found its ideal partner in Steve Baker, whose rhythmically driving, subtly accented and emotionally intense harmonica offered the perfect complement to the guitarist’s sensitive slide work, pumping grooves, beautifully constructed songs and highly entertaining stories. A tribute to two great musicans and their mutual love of music!

Source: Steve Baker - Damn Good Run - The Best of Chris Jones & Steve Baker

Info picked from their Web sites:

Steve Baker and Chris Jones have been playing together since 1994. They have released three critically acclaimed CDs together on Acoustic Music Records: "Slow Roll" (1995), "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" (1998) and "Smoke and Noise" (2003).

The Harp Handbook Harmonica maestro Steve Baker was born and raised in London, England, and is now based in Germany. He took up the harp in 1969 and has been a full-time professional since 1975. Today he is undoubtedly one of the leading blues harmonica players on the European scene. His unique and instantly recognizable style combines traditional blues elements with innovative melodic ideas, showcasing his mastery of dynamics and tone to create an exciting fusion of his own which has inspired many younger players. Through countless live performances and hundreds of studio sessions, Steve has earned an international reputation among harmonica fans for soulful and imaginative playing in a wide variety of styles. In addition to performing and recording, he gives regular harp workshops and has written several highly regarded books including "The Harp Handbook" (1990) and "Interactive Harping", the first (and best) interactive CD-ROM for aspiring harmonicists. He is also the international harmonica consultant for Hohner, the world’s leading harmonica manufacturer.

Chris Jones originally hails from Reno, Nevada, and plays and sings like a man possessed. He grew up with Jazz, Blues and Folk, his parents being avid music fans. He then took up classical guitar at the age of 11 before returning to Blues, Rock and Country in his late teens. A master of the strangest open tunings on the guitar, his playing is sometimes reminiscent of Ry Cooder or Lowell George, sometimes of Leo Kottke or even Bruce Hornsby! At all times, however, it remains unmistakably his own. As well as performing solo and in duos, he has written film music for one of Germany's hottest young directors, Sünke Wortmann. He performs and records regularly with modern Irish folk artist Geraldine McGowan (ex-Oisin) and can be heard (among others) on recent releases by David Munyon ("Slim Possibilities", Stockfisch) and Steve Strauss ("Powderhouse Road", Stockfisch), both of which feature Steve Baker on harmonica. Chris has also recently released a solo CD "Moonstruck" on Stockfish Records. Like Steve, he plays with a consuming passion, as though each gig could be his last.

Steve Baker Steve Baker's unmistakable harmonica style fits to Chris Jones' remarkable fingerpicking like white on rice. Electrifying harp solos are underlaid with guitar picking of such rhythmic precision and filigrane intensity that the combination takes the listeners breath away. On stage Chris Jones and Steve Baker generate a pulsating energy which has electrified audiences all over the world, most notably in Germany, where they have opened for such prestigious acts as the Scorpions and the Leningrad Cowboys. They have also toured successfully in Australia, Belgium, Holland, Russia and the United States, playing concerts and giving workshops. In Summer 1998 they performed at the SPAH Blues Harmonica Blowoff in Detroit, Michigan alongside artists such as Kim Wilson and Curtis Salgado, where their short but powerful set was described afterwards by festival organizer Larry "The Iceman" Eisenberg simply as "awesome".

Chris Jones and Steve Baker present a wide-ranging live program which includes unconventional interpretations of Blues, Rock and Country classics as well as strong original compositions. Despite their high-energy approach, they are also masters of dynamics. Their gripping and sensitive renditions of slow, quiet ballads have literally moved audiences to tears on more than one occasion. Purists may be offended by the eclectic mix of styles, but open-minded music lovers are generally delighted.

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