Steve Baker - Free Fall (Digital-Album)
The songs can be downloaded at the end of the order.
Sounds of the 80s | Harmonica pop instrumentals
The 1980s marked the beginning of the digital era, and most commercial music productions from this period utilized the latest technological innovations. Polyphonic synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines, and sampled sounds were relatively new at the time and radically changed the way popular music was created. Hamburg was an important hub of the German music industry, where Steve Baker, as a studio musician on countless recordings in the 1980s and 90s, witnessed the digital revolution in music production.
In the summer of 1986, he joined a group of Hamburg session musicians, including drumming legend Peter Franken and producer and guitarist Dieter Faber. This album of instrumental tracks for harmonica, influenced by the popular sounds and technologies of the time, was created in Adrian Askew's Simple Sound Studio.
The 80s production techniques and the polished performances of the studio cracks provide a backdrop for Baker's soulful playing, which may surprise listeners familiar with his work in blues, rock, and folk. The combination is both unusual and effective. In addition to his exemplary diatonic harp playing, the Free Fall Sessions also feature rare recordings of Steve on chromatic harmonica.
Three tracks were released as maxi-singles in 1987, but the remaining tracks were never released. For the first time, the entire production is now available as a download from Timezone Records. This long-overdue reissue showcases another side of Steve Baker's wide-ranging musicality and underscores his status as one of today's most influential harmonica players.
Adrian Askew - recording, keyboards
Steve Baker - harmonica
Dieter Faber - guitars, bass, keyboards
Peter Franken - drums & percussion
Michael Pohnke - keyboards
1. Free Fall - soft mix (Steve Baker / Dieter Faber)
2. Reaching Out (Michael Pohnke)
3. Meet The Beat (Steve Baker / Dieter Faber)
4. Winter Sun (Steve Baker / Dieter Faber)
5. Iona (Steve Baker)
6. Grenadina (Dieter Faber)
7. Whistling In The Dark ((Steve Baker / Dieter Faber)
8. Chasing Rainbows (Steve Baker)
9. Free Fall - maxi mix (Steve Baker / Dieter Faber)